So, what is the concerto that Glenn Gould criticized so harshly? It’s Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 24 in C minor (K.491). Mozart composed K.491 during the winter of 1785–86 (FYI, Mozart was 30 then and he died five years later), a period when he was also devoting to the creation of his late operatic masterpieces, such as Le Nozze di Figaro, Don Giovanni, and later Die Zauberflöte (in other words, concerti appointments are the composition chores he was possibly trying to get over with).
K.491 is widely praised and has even been referred to by renowned musicologists as Mozart’s greatest piano concerto. However, some musicians had a much harsher opinion (e.g. Glenn Gould “How Mozart Became a Bad Composer” was all about it). Glenn criticized the concerto for being full of clichés, accusing Mozart of using uninspired material pulled from his compositional “vault.” According to Gould, Mozart sacrificed the coherence of high-level expression for the immediate gratification of improvisatory flair—claiming that “if Mozart seems to be getting nowhere, that is possibly the case.”
But don’t take Gould’s word for it—judge for yourself. Here’s a performance of K.491 by Rudolf Buchbinder, conducting and playing with the Vienna Philharmonic:
FYI: the section Gould critiqued as “cliché” appears around 4:06 in the first movement (Allegro). But the concerto’s second movement (Adagio) is far more popular and celebrated for its beauty (13:07).