Holiday picks: 250 years later, Mozart's still a star

CLASSICAL MUSIC

Can it really be that time of year again? Yes, it's time to turn our thoughts toward the holidays — and their requisite shopping lists. A minor landslide of great new discs and books will help you check off the classical lovers on your list. And in honor of the 250th anniversary of Mozart's birth, Amadeus gets a landslide of his own.

CDs

Mozart: The Complete Symphonies (Brilliant, 11 CDs): This boxed set of all 41 of Mozart's symphonies was recorded in 2001-02 by Jaap ter Linden and the Mozart Akademie Amsterdam. It's a period-instruments version, with lovely soft-focus strings and plangent winds, and ter Linden gets beautiful phrasing from his players. You can chart Mozart's course from his first symphony (at age 8) to the mature genius of the final "Jupiter" Symphony (at 32).

Mozart, "Haffner" and "Linz" Symphonies (Nos. 35/36) (Harmonia Mundi): A good counterpoint to the above is this modern-instruments version of two of the most popular symphonies, with Jirí Belohlávek conducting the excellent, incisive Prague Philharmonia.

Harmonia Mundi Mozart Edition (Harmonia Mundi): Just in time for 2006, a series of reissues of Harmonia Mundi's best Mozart discs from their vaults in two batches of five CDs each. The opening set, available now, has such gems as Andrew Manze and The English Concert's "Night Music" and René Jacobs' "Cosi fan tutte."

Mozart Agenda/Diary 2006 (Harmonia Mundi): The cutest little diary for 2006 is this little Mozart one that's almost exactly the same size as a CD (slightly thicker). It's a hardback book with each week spread out over two pages, decorated with photos, illustrations and notes pertinent to Mozart's life. A pocket inside the back cover hides a CD with excerpts from Harmonia Mundi's Mozart collection.

Books

"Mozart: The Early Years," by Stanley Sadie (W.W. Norton & Company, $35; on sale Nov. 28): Renowned Mozart scholar Stanley Sadie planned a second volume as a sequel to "The Early Years," but sadly he died before the second book could be completed. The present volume is a gem, full of colorful details and insights on both Mozart's life as a prodigy and his music. Mozart's letters, his father Leopold's travel diaries and other period sources are used to great effect; we find out that Leopold considered the musicians of Utrecht "prize asses," but also the reasons why Sadie concluded "Mozart had outgrown Salzburg." Thoughtful, probing and engrossing.

"Getting the Most Out of Mozart," by David Hurwitz (Amadeus Press, $22.95): The second volume ("The Vocal Works") in a pair of chatty, informal books about Mozart, designed for nonspecialists. David Hurwitz discusses seven of the composer's operas, as well as the Requiem and other vocal/choral works, in terms that will entertain the reader who wants to understand what all the fuss is about in "The Marriage of Figaro." (Don't give this to your musician friends, who will not be amused by such lines as "Almaviva is basically an incredible jerk.") With a Telarc CD inside the back cover.