0 The Very Best Of Mozart

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

Detail: The Very Best Of Mozart

0 Mozart: Concert Arias

Mozart's concert arias are not really generically independent from his operas. They were mostly written for insertion into operas by a singer, often Mozart's girlfriend and then sister-in-law Aloysia Weber, who wanted to display her talents to their best advantage. As such, however, they stand out from other operatic arias as some of the most difficult vocal pieces Mozart composed. Several of these pieces are in Queen of the Night territory, with not just individual high notes but lengthy passages that require the singer to be melodic at the very top of her range.

This 1994 release by French soprano Natalie Dessay, just hitting the very top of her game, has been a favorite among aficionados of Mozart's vocal music, and its reissue in Virgin Classics' budget line gives other listeners a chance to try it out. For sheer agility in the top register, it's hard to beat. Dessay not only hits the multiple examples of the E two octaves plus above middle C, she sounds good doing so, and she makes real music as the tune bounces around a few steps below that. There are sopranos with greater dramatic insight than Dessay, and plenty with more sheer power, but for the pleasure of hearing a trained voice enter territory where only a few can go, this disc remains a rare find.

The Lyon Opera Orchestra under Theodor Guschlbauer stays out of Dessay's way, which is exactly the right place for it. The booklet notes, in English, French, and German (the French and German notes are different from the English but identical to each other), are abbreviated from the earlier release; there is no biographical information, but the basic background on the music is helpful. No texts are given, but when you hear Dessay hit the stratosphere, you won't care. --by James Manheim. allmusic

Detail: Mozart: Concert Arias

0 Mozart: Divertimento in E flat major

“I do not think that Mozart's K563 has ever had a finer performance on record than this. The balance between the instruments is ideal and the realization of the part-writing is, in a word, perfect...with the consequence that the profound quality of the music is at all times conveyed...a superlative achievement which I cannot imagine ever being improved upon.” --International Record Review, March 2011

“Mozart’s arrangements of Bach make an apt frame for one of his divertimentos. The warmth and bloom on this recording by the Hermitage Trio is immediately inviting, and the player’s incisive, well-considered readings of Mozart’s trios are a treat...” --Catherine Nelson, The Strad, March 2011

"Many hours of supreme musical pleasure are guaranteed." --John Sheppard, MusicWeb-International, February 2011

Detail: Mozart: Divertimento in E flat major

0 Lebrun: Oboe concertos

"Holliger is in top form, confronting the challenges as if they were child's play and capturing the spirit and the letter of the music as only he can . . . The support offered by the Camerata Bern and the Munich Chamber Orchestra is excellent and strong, with admirable pacing, precise ensemble, fine intonation, and splendid leadership . . . these recordings were nothing short of "must haves". While -- in the intervening years -- performance practices have encountered emendation and musical aesthetics have been altered, the immense musical and artistic value of these performances still holds." --Fanfare, July 2004

Detail: Lebrun: Oboe concertos

0 Amoureuses: Arias by Mozart, Haydn and Gluck

BBC Music Magazine Awards 2009 - Opera Award Winner

“Patricia Petibon's choice of arias by the three greatest of late 18th-century opera composers is tailor-made to display her range, in terms of both drama and sheer vocal compass. …her debut disc for DG is pure pleasure, and Daniel Harding and Concerto Köln provide first-rate support.” --BBC Music Magazine, November 2008 *****

“The French soprano's DG debut is a considerable and attractive success. There are excerpts from Gluck's Armide, too, including a heartfelt air from Act 3. In the last scene, Petibon is mesmerising in the recitative - excellent support here, and indeed throughout, from Daniel Harding - before, again, bursting out in fury.” --Gramophone Magazine, December 2008

Exceptional French soprano Patricia Petibon joins the DG roster with her debut album Amoureuses, featuring arias by Mozart, Haydn and Gluck

Petibon has established herself as one of the most interesting and versatile sopranos of our day and has been widely acclaimed for her outstanding acting abilities that make her merge completely with whatever role she sings and represents on stage

With Amoureuses Petibon circles around the ever-important topic of love and desire – in a series of character-portraits she explores how the very different female characters in the operas of Mozart, Haydn, and Gluck respond to the challenges of love

Ranging from the dramatic fury in Haydn’s Odio, furor, dispetto and Mozart’s Der Hölle Rache . . . to the sweetness in his Deh vieni, and from the desperate sadness of his L’ho perduta . . . me meschina! to the grandeur of Gluck’s Ah! Si la liberté, the album is the perfect showcase for Petibon’s exceptional skills of expression and characterization

For Amoureuses Petibon teamed up with the acclaimed period-instrument band Concerto Köln and conductor Daniel Harding, a collaboration that guarantees an effervescent, entrancing approach to the music of the Viennese masters – a captivating debut to watch for!

Detail: Amoureuses: Arias by Mozart, Haydn and Gluck

0 Mozart for Meditation

Mozart can help you to relax your mind and body, focus your thought, and refresh your spirit.

A slow journey through the classical repertoire from Mozart, sit back, relax and unwind to some of the most relaxing classical music.

Detail: Mozart for Meditation