If you’re looking for a generous, well-chosen selection of Mozart highlights, this three-disc set assembled in honor of the composer’s 250th birthday is just the ticket. There’s no need to go into details. Virtually every Mozart chestnut from his symphonies, concertos, wind serenades, chamber music, and operas is here: 36 tracks in all, containing more than three-and-one-half hours of music. The names of the artists speak for themselves: conductors George Szell, Rafael Kubelik, and Colin Davis; soloists Alicia de Larrocha, Rudolf Serkin, and Pinchas Zukerman; singers Margaret Price, Ruggero Raimondi, and Thomas Quasthoff; the Cleveland Orchestra, the Staatskapelle Dresden, the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra–the list goes on.
Sony and BMG collectively have an enormously rich catalog of Mozart performances, and the selections here are almost uniformly top-notch and intelligent. The first two discs contain a well-chosen batch of single movements and arias, while the third is a “relaxation” disc of slow movements. Given the various labels, media, and recording dates, the sound quality is varied, but it’s never less than good. Even Mozart aficionados might find this package appealing for casual listening, not to mention for the morning commute. But most of all, if you are curious about what all the Mozartean fuss is about, or just want to throw a few hours of Mozart onto your iPod, I can recommend this set without hesitation. [2/20/2006]
