Chinese President’s wife goes home with Mozart facsimile
mainThe First Lady of the People’s Republic of China, Madame Peng Liyuan, was awarded a facsimile of Mozart’s manuscript of the C Minor piano concerto, K 491, when she visited the Royal College of Music today. The original has been lodged at the College for more than a century.
Madame Peng Liyuan is a renowned traditional singer in China.
photo (c) Chris Christodoulou/Lebrecht Music&Arts
This is one of the most fascinating manuscripts that has ever been published as facsimile. The solo part in particular is a mess as Mozart often rewrote it four or more times without caring very much for legibility. This is something you don’t see very often in Mozart scores. There are so many of his manuscripts on the internet nowadays but some of the most interesting things, including this score, are still only available as facsimile (another example is Symphony No.40, complete with added ‘short score’ for its second version, which once was in Brahms’ possession).