It would be daunting to compete with the cluster of divas and divos on the cover of Deutsche Grammophon's The Mozart Album.
There, lined up under the familiar gold logo, are Rene Pape, Elina Garanca, Thomas Quasthoff and Bryn Terfel surrounding Anna Netrebko, whose six tracks, all new, are clearly
the album's selling point.
She might bring a Russian passion to Oh smania! from Idomeneo yet somehow the essential lightness of La ci darem eludes her, even if Quasthoff is a suitably inveigling Don Giovanni.
And as for convincing us she is the wide-eyed nature child in Ilia's lovely Zeffiretti lusinghieri from Idomeneo, forget it; your attention turns instead to the simpatico backdrop provided by Claudio Abbado's new Orchestra Mozart.
Abbado and his players are wild and wonderful when Netrebko and Christoph Strehl trade revenge and affection in their first act duet from Don Giovanni.
Here it's the finely modulated woodwind playing that stands out, with a flesh-and-blood performance from Strehl which makes you hunger to hear him in one of Ottavio's arias from the opera.
The German tenor can be heard as a melodious Tamino in Abbado's new The Magic Flute, although unfortunately Deutsche Grammophon hasn't sneaked in a preview track on this disc. However, two arias from the opera are included.
Erika Miklosa's Der Holle Rache offers expert coloratura while Abbado works up storms from his Mahler Chamber Orchestra; several octaves lower, Rene Pape brings an extraordinary lyricism to Sarastro's In diesen heil'gen Hallen.
Absolute disappointments are few, even if Bryn Terfel's Figaro aria is blowsy to my ears.
The Welshman more than attones for this with a self-effacing bass line for Miah Persson and Christine Rice in Cosi fan Tutte's perennially popular trio, Soave sia il vento although Charles Mackerras' Scottish Chamber Orchestra seems a little demure alongside Abbado's more extravagant interpretations.
The charmer track, without a doubt, especially if you've caught up with the singer's poignant DVD of Schubert's Winterreise, is Thomas Quasthoff's birdcatcher, panpipes at the ready, in Der Vogelfanger bin ich ja.
* The Mozart Album (Deutsche Grammophon 477 6297)
