Mariana Cirne claims, about Mozart, that "His music is lacking in emotion."
I mulled why she might react that way to his music, and thought I would
share my reaction.  There is a sense in which music from the Classical
Period is not as overtly emotional as music from the Romantic era, and
that may be what Mariana is reacting to.  The idea that art might properly
depict a personal sturm und drang (do I have that right, Walter?) is one
that came about during the Romantic Era and would have probably been
foreign to the classical mind set.  But in no way does that preclude strong
feeling, which Mozart is capable of stimulating in me.  But the listener
needs to approach this music in a different way than he or she would, say,
a Mahler symphony- I'm just not sure I can articulate how.  I've sometimes
regarded Mozart as the musical embodiment of Robert Frost's famous dictum
that "a poem begins in delight and ends in wisdom."

My recommendation for Mariana would be to listen to some of Mozart's
music in a live performance.  I've certainly had the experience of reacting
to music with which I've had at least some degree of familiarity in a
totally different light once I'd heard it live.  As for emotion, well if
you can listen to a good, live performance of the Requiem without a sense
of terror, then perhaps this music is not for you.  Try the great Mass is
C Minor for a a work full of unsettling tension- about as close as the
Classical period gets to being angst-ridden.  While Don Giovanni is perhaps
deservedly call "the greatest opera", The Magic Flute, with a queen who
makes me want to run for cover, would get my seal of approval as Mozart's
greatest opera.  Aficionado-wannabe of chamber music that I am, I cannot
pass up the opportunity to recommend his Clarinet Quintet in A Major.  At
least one of his string quintets- I think it's in a minor key- should also
challenge anyone who claims Mozart does not inspire emotion.

Larry