Music and Humanities, Harvard University

Mozart:
The Compositional Second Thoughts of a Master Improviser

Levin’s lecture will attempt to demonstrate that Mozart often thought abstractly while composing and in the process created passages so technically demanding he had to revise them, most likely immediately before a performance. Manuscripts of the piano concertos will be used to show that although some of Mozart’s corrections show an extraordinary refinement of melodic flow, many are designed simply to render passages less difficult. Here too, the artfulness of the revisions masks the fact that the original versions are often of equal or even higher quality. Even as he simplified, Mozart also deliberately left certain passages in schematic form to be fleshed out anew in each performance.

Levin’s performances have been acclaimed throughout the United States and Europe. His free fantasies in Mozart’s style, invented at the moment using themes written by the audience, and his improvised cadenzas have dazzled audiences and critics alike. Levin’s repertoire ranges from the Elizabethan masters to Boulez and Harbison. He has performed with such major orchestras as Berlin, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, Montreal, Minnesota, and Utah, appearing in recital in New York, London, Tokyo, and in numerous European cities.