Haydn Concerto in D Major

[sdphins]

Hey there,

I feel so stupid asking this question, but I was looking at the score and listening to recordings and I saw that during the beginning of the score the piano is notated as it should be playing, but when watching it performed the pianist didn’t begin until the first solo. I was just wondering the reason for this.

Link to performance

Link to sheet music

https://imslp.simssa.ca/files/imglnks/usimg/2/28/IMSLP442185-PMLP29486-haydnpianoconcertoinDmajorscore.pdf

Thank you guys!

[brogers70]

There was a time early in the Classical period when the piano in a piano concerto functioned both as a soloist and as part of the basso continuo; in some of the Mozart piano concertos the piano part has a bass line and figured bass notation when it is not playing as a soloist. Eventually, within the lifetime of Mozart, it became obvious that this dual function took away from the drama of the pianist in conversation or conflict with the orchestra which is a key part of classical concertos. There's a brief discussion of this issue in Charles Rosen's "The Classical Style."

[sdphins]

Ahhhh, that makes sense.

Thank you!