Bob Draper wrote:

>I think this series is on Naxos.

No, it's on Chandos.  The world of classical music does not always revolve
around Naxos.

>...in my view all these people and Mozart himself are contemporaries
>of Joseph Haydn and I therefore find the title of the series offensive.

Give me a break.  Chandos used the Mozart name because it's a bigger name
than Haydn's and would likely attract more buyers.  That's just the way it
is and has nothing to do with the respective quality of the music of the
two composers.  But, Chandos could have named the series "Contemporaries
of Mozart and Haydn".

>How condescending and patronising to describe Michael Hadyn and Stamitz as
>mere contemporaries of Mozart.

In this context, "contemporary" simply means "of the same time period".
There's nothing demeaning about it at all.

Maybe Bob is missing the point of this Chandos series which is to give
buyers the oportunity to listen to lesser known composers and symphonies
of Mozart's era.  It's a worthy series which has been excellently played.

Don Satz
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