Naxos’s two-disc collection, The Very Best of Mozart, includes a generous selection of music by the prolific eighteenth century Austrian composer. The only works that are presented complete are the pieces in a single movement, and the album is made up mostly of individual movements from larger works. The set includes a variety of pieces from the many genres of which Mozart was a master, including symphony, opera, church music, serenades, orchestral music, keyboard music, and chamber music.
The tracks are taken from CDs from Naxos’ archives. Most of the performances are serviceable and the sound quality is adequate. The program notes don’t list the performers but instead point the listener to Naxos’ website for full information about each track. --Allmusic.com, December 2010