In 1999, the renowned Portuguese pianist Maria João Pires was set to perform for a full-house audience of 2,000 at Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. She was tapped last minute to replace another musician for the open rehearsal, featuring Mozart and Mahler pieces to be conducted by Riccardo Chailly. Everything seemed to be going smoothly at first—until Chailly launched into the concerto’s opening. As the music swelled through the concert hall, Pires realized, with horror, that she had prepared the wrong Mozart concerto.
“She was shocked because she was expecting us to play [Mozart’s Piano Concerto No.23 in A major],” Chailly remarked in an interview following the incident. “So when I started the first bar of [Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 20 in D minor], she kind of jumped and panicked like an electric shock. She couldn’t even consider moving her hands.”
Luckily, Mozart’s Concerto No. 20 opens with a dramatic orchestral section, which afforded Pires a few minutes to gather her thoughts amid her surprise. As the orchestra played the introductory passage, Pires looked to Chailly, admitting that she must’ve misread the program. Even in the midst of intense conducting, Chailly managed to encourage her, insisting that she would be able to recall the piece from memory. It had been 10 months since Pires had played Concerto No. 20.
“[Chailly] said, ‘You can do it, you played it, you can do it no problem, just do it’—and he continued,” Pires told Classic FM in a 2024 interview. “Even though it was a public rehearsal, the hall was completely full. I was scared, that’s all.”
Once the concerto’s piano solo approached, Pires had scoured her musical memory and assured Chailly that she would attempt Concerto No. 20. In a miraculous recovery, she played the piece without any mistakes.
“The miracle is that she has such a memory, that she could within a minute switch to a new concerto without making one mistake,” Chailly recalled.
Despite footage from the concert going viral several times throughout the years, Pires doesn’t believe her performance was particularly remarkable. “It’s a bit unrealistic when people think this is something extraordinary,” she said. “This would happen with all of us—because I have a normal memory. I don’t have an exceptional memory. And there are musicians who have exceptional memories. In my case, I am very, very average.”
People on Instagram, however, seem to disagree with Pires. In a post recently shared by History Photographed, several users marveled at Pires’ composure and professionalism, regardless of her own initial panic.
“This is an amazing intersection of a lifetime of preparation mixed with a huge lack of preparation,” one user commented. Another noted: “All the years of practice took over, she hit flow state and delivered.”
No matter how humble Pires is, it’s clear that her 1999 performance was a testament not just to her exceptional command over music, but her ability to recover and ultimately deliver.
In 1999, renowned pianist Maria João Pires played a Mozart concerto from memory after learning she’d prepared the wrong piece while onstage.
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Sources: ‘It was very scary’ – what went through Maria João Pires’ mind in THAT viral wrong concerto; When Maria João Pires learned the wrong piano concerto, but had a ‘miraculous’ recovery; Maria Joao Pires expecting another Mozart concerto during a lunch-concert in Amsterdam
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