Mozart – Eine Kleine Nachtmusik – A Naxos Musical Journey

Mozart – Eine Kleine NachtmusiKEine Kleine Nachtmusik is part of the Naxos Musical Journey series, which marries great classics with images associated with the music and its composer. Other than the title piece, this program offers Mozart’s suite Lodron Night Music No. 1, K. 247, and the Serenata Notturna, K. 239. The musical performances originally appeared on a Naxos audio CD and feature Wolfgang Sobotka conducting the Capella Istropolitana. The music is Mozart at his light, charming best, and while the performances are not of the highest order they are perfectly serviceable and delivered with enthusiasm.

The accompanying images include the Mozart family house and the Mozart museum in Salzburg. Following these, the viewer is guided through beautiful views of the Austrian landscape in winter, together with scenes of churches and ancient castles such as the Fortress of Hohensalzburg. It all makes for an appealing travelogue, but optional text titles or a commentary track could have helped make clear the relevance of many of the images to Mozart and his music.

Mozart: Eine Kleine Nachtmusik offers excellent DTS and slightly less detailed Dolby Digital 5.1 sound, as well as the original CD stereo mix. The picture is standard TV ratio 4:3, and is good with strong colors, but slight shimmering sometimes distracts from the full glory of the vistas. Extras consist of “Travel Notes”, which frustratingly cannot be superimposed as on-screen text, but must be accessed separately from the musical selections. –Gary S. Dalkin