I was pleased to read Scott Morrison's glowing review of the Zukerman/NACO
Mozart set that just came out a few weeks ago.  Pleased, not because I
agree with everything he says, but because he recognizes the extraordinary
quality of playing in the set, a quality that we in Ottawa are happily
able to take for granted, and not only at the National Arts Centre.

As the principal music critic in Ottawa, I've heard P.Z.  do a lot of
Mozart.  In general I don't care for his approach.  Granted, when he's
not "phoning in" a performance, and he often does, there can be a high
standard of musicianship.  But his Mozart interpretations sound to me
like a combination of Bruno Walter and Thomas Beecham.  Oddly, I usually
like his Haydn and Beethoven, the orchestral music at least, and he has
led some of the nicest Brahms and Dvorak symphonies I've ever heard.

On balance, I think we're lucky to have him here.  But then we're lucky
to have quite a few people and events here.  Don't tell anyone from
Toronto that, though.  They'll injure themselves rolling on the floor.

Richard, who invites you to visit his music website at http://opuspocus.ca