Piano Concerto no. 17 in G major, K. 453

Mozart composed Piano Concerto No. 17 in 1784, during the years in which he was establishing himself in Vienna as both pianist and composer. Unlike most of his concertos, it was written for another soloist: Barbara Ployer, one of his pupils. The first movement’s orchestral exposition is unusually abundant in ideas, presenting not merely two contrasting themes but a profusion of material. The concerto became a meeting point between Mozart’s public virtuosity and his increasingly rich orchestral imagination.