It says something about how the recording industry has changed that just a decade or so after Philips released its complete Mozart Edition to general acclaim, this new one appears at super-budget price, and it’s just as good. Hopefully its various components will remain in print longer than the Universal titles, for some of them are very good indeed. This includes the complete symphonies featuring Jaap Ter Linden and the Mozart Akademie Amsterdam on period instruments (this latter also available separately on SACD), as well as the piano concertos with Derek Han and the Philharmonia under Paul Freeman. Both the string quartets and quintets are very well done by such groups as the Brandis and Orlando quartets, and you get Kuijken in the three great Italian comic operas (Figaro, Don Giovanni, and Cosí), as well as Mackerras’ stylish Telarc performances of The Abduction from the Seraglio and The Magic Flute.
We’ve already reviewed several of the early operas, very nicely done by Musica ad Rhenum under Jad Wentz, and the there’s even the classic Schmidt-Isserstedt Idomeneo with Nicolai Gedda, Edda Moser, Peter Schreier, and the Staatskapelle Dresden. In short, this edition offers about a 50/50 mix of pre-existing material and new performances, and such is the quality of Mozart performance today that you can purchase this 170-CD set with complete confidence. It also comes with an introductory CD containing notes, sung texts for the sacred and miscellaneous vocal works, and all of the opera librettos. Whether you will want this much Mozart is very much a matter of personal choice; certainly most of his early stuff is pretty ephemeral, but it’s also just plain pretty, and unfailingly pleasant. Granted, you can do as well or better with individual performances of the well-known masterworks, but taken as a whole this remains impressive, and quite a bargain.
