An artist with a penchant for seeking out the new, Radek Baborak has joined forces with other outstanding musicians so as to interpret the pieces as arranged for horn and string quartet. "I liked the idea of presenting the concertos in the form they may have been heard when Mr. Leutgeb would visit the Mozart's home, get together with Mr. Michael Haydn and Mr. Sussmayr, and make music."

A timely re-issue of the legendary 1960 live concert performance in Salzburg featuring a dazzling firmament of legendary singers all in the prime of their singing careers: Leontyne Price, Eberhard Wächter, Hilde Rössel-Majdan, Fritz Wunderlich and Walter Berry. With the great Herbert von Karajan leading the Vienna Philharmonic and the soaring Wiener Singverein, this is a most distinguished performance of Mozart's Requiem.

Here you have Mozart's aesthetics in a nutshell. Of course, music must not break a sweat," and must be natural to be of the highest order." Alfred Einstein wrote this in 1945 about Mozart's later works, and the Trio Lézard has discovered a new look at a group of works that exemplifies this idea of compressed aesthetics: the trios KV 439b, previously known as "five divertimenti", are not really divertimenti, at least Mozart does not call them that. In a long unknown transcript from Mozart's time, the 25 individual movements are arranged differently and supplemented by five arrangements of opera arias, resulting in 30 "Terzetti", as Mozart himself called it. Originally set for three basset horns, there are already alternative voices from the early days - the starting point for the Trio Lézard. Their convincing and brilliantly presented new version of the Terzetti for oboe, clarinet and bassoon shows the fascinating color and transparency of this music with voice alterations in the upper parts.

On the occasion of it's 40th anniversary Carus has initiated a new series Carus Classics, featuring ten outstanding CD productions from the past library of recordings. This exclusive collection, designed by Friedrich Forssman and Cornelia Feyll, is presented in high-quality DigiPacs and each CD includes an extensive booklet. '... exemplary recording.' (New Classics, September 2005)

Sándor Végh's credentials as a Mozart conductor need no introduction. His musicianship, sense of style, and interpretive standards were second to none. Just listen to the way he handles the first subject of Eine Kleine Nachtmusik's opening movement, his execution of both forte and piano passages, giving each its particular character while always maintaining the long singing line. All of the performances in this set, drawn from the Salzburg Festival's Mozart Matinee concerts from 1988-93, show these same qualities in virtually every bar. The "little" G minor symphony is particularly noteworthy in this respect, perhaps because of its greater emotional range than the various divertimentos and cassations also included here; but there isn't a note anywhere that isn't vibrantly alive.

The three concertos with Schiff (Nos. 8, 11, and 13) comprise the most substantial works in this set. Although very well performed, Schiff and Végh made commercial recordings of these pieces for Decca that feature even better playing and engineering. In the two vocal numbers, including "Ch'io mi scordi di te?", perhaps the greatest concert aria ever written (and featuring Schiff in the piano solos), mezzo Daphne Evangelatos has a notably rich and pleasant tone, but she sings under the notes and fudges some of her passage-work. So there are small blemishes here and there. The sonics are good but variable over the five-year period in which the performances took place, and the programming may not be optimal from a marketing point of view if you already own the Decca set of piano concertos--but in all other respects this is a set to cherish.

--David Hurwitz, Classics Today.com