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Totally Essential Mozart
Mozart / Beethoven: Clarinet ConcertosMozart / Beethoven: Clarinet Concertos by Michael Collins
Buy new: £10.08 / Used from: £7.00
This is pure recording perfection - played with such character and understanding (on a basset clarinet too). The Beethoven is also very interesting and superbly played.
Mozart: Die ZauberflöteMozart: Die Zauberflöte
Buy new: £13.48 / Used from: £12.00
Utterly divine singing from Janowitz and Popp. If you favour the slower, grander interpretations of Mozart's operas this is the Zauberflote for you without doubt.
Mozart: Le nozze di Figaro; Don Giovanni; Così Fan Tutte; Die Zauberflöte [Box Set]Mozart: Le nozze di Figaro; Don Giovanni; Così Fan Tutte; Die Zauberflöte [Box Set]
Buy used from: £99.94
I could not be without Ostman's pioneering opera recordings. Superb casts, a great sense of fun and wonderfully transparent and clear textures.
Mozart: Le nozze di FigaroMozart: Le nozze di Figaro
Buy used from: £7.50
A recording of Figaro that has truly stood the test of time - Schwarzkopf's Countess and Waechter's Count are particularly enjoyable.
Mozart: The Great Piano Concertos, Vol.1Mozart: The Great Piano Concertos, Vol.1 by Alfred Brendel
Buy new: £7.98 / Used from: £5.79
Alfred Brendel's Mozart recordings are always such a treat - few pianists capture Mozart's elegance and wit so successfully.
Mozart: Requiem; Kyrie in D minorMozart: Requiem; Kyrie in D minor by Barbara Bonney
Buy new: £10.98 / Used from: £3.74
Sir John Eliot Gardiner's recording of Mozart's Requiem is one of the finest around, with a superb quartet, a great sense of drama and no over-slow tempi.
Mozart: Le nozze di FigaroMozart: Le nozze di Figaro
Buy new: £39.98 / Used from: £25.51
Though overall I would narrowly choose Ostman's Figaro over this one, this is a superb recording and I couldn't be without Hagley's wonderfully clear and spirited Susanna.
Mozart: Symphonies Nos.35 "Haffner", 36 "Linzer", 38 "Prager", 39, 40, 41 "Jupiter"Mozart: Symphonies Nos.35 "Haffner", 36 "Linzer", 38 "Prager", 39, 40, 41 "Jupiter" by Berliner Philharmoniker
Buy new: £10.08 / Used from: £7.24
Bohm's Mozart remains popular, despite new and generally accepted performing insights. However Bohm's steady tempi afford more clarity with his large string section.
Mozart - Symphonies Nos. 40 & 41Mozart - Symphonies Nos. 40 & 41
Buy new: £6.79 / Used from: £4.00
Mackerras is something of a champion of 'period-style' performance on modern instruments. These performances are earthy and energetic.
Mozart: Piano Concertos Nos. 18 & 20Mozart: Piano Concertos Nos. 18 & 20
Buy new: £11.98 / Used from: £6.50
A new and spectacular Mozart Piano concerto 20, combined here with 18.
Mozart: Così fan tutteMozart: Così fan tutte
Buy new: £22.98 / Used from: £17.92
Whatever you think of Ludwig and Schwarzkopf's rather overdone Mozart, this recording is Bohm's best and is wonderfully measured and polished. Berry's Alfonso is a comic treat.
Mozart: Horn ConcertosMozart: Horn Concertos
Buy new: £6.67 / Used from: £4.49
The legendary Dennis Brain performing Mozart's horn concertos. Incredibly polished and sympathetic playing.
Don GiovanniDon Giovanni by Mozart
Buy new: £30.98 / Used from: £41.39
The single definitive Don. Waechter is wonderful and Schwarzkopf's Elvira is without parallel.
Mozart / Brahms: Clarinet QuintetsMozart / Brahms: Clarinet Quintets by Emerson String Quartet
Buy new: £12.98 / Used from: £9.86
Stunning. A great performance of Mozart's wonderful Clarinet Quintet is, incredibly, surpassed by the gloriously expressive Brahms that follows it. I genuinely cannot imagine life without this CD.
Mozart: ConcertosMozart: Concertos
Buy new: £13.69 / Used from: £12.15
Goode again with a brilliant recording of the 25th - coupled here with the 9th, acknowledged to be Mozart's first great piano concerto.
Mozart: Piano Concertos Nos.22, K482 & No. 23, K488Mozart: Piano Concertos Nos.22, K482 & No. 23, K488
Buy used from: £50.00
Mozart academic Robert Levin puts his interpretive 'period' stamp on the piano concerto medium. After the haunting 2nd mvt of 488, the 3rd should make you burst out laughing, and this hits the spot.
Mozart - Die Entführung aus dem Serail (The Abduction from the Seraglio) K. 384 / Les Arts Florissants . ChristieMozart - Die Entführung aus dem Serail (The Abduction from the Seraglio) K. 384 / Les Arts Florissants . Christie
Buy new: £26.98 / Used from: £42.75
Very difficult to track down on a normal Amazon search, this is a superb new period Entfuhrung. Bostridge's Belmonte, Schaefer's Constanze and Petibon's Blonde must be some of the best on disc.
Mozart: Sonatas for PianoMozart: Sonatas for Piano
Buy new: £12.98 / Used from: £4.00
Supreme Mozartian pianist Alfred Brendel, in a live performance, plays three of Mozart's greatest piano sonatas.