Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus, 1756-1791

Prolific jazz pianist and composer Uri Caine has a new recording: Uri Caine Ensemble Plays Mozart.

Actor Ed Harris plays Ludwig van Beethoven in the new film Copying Beethoven, and he's also starring in the new play Wrecks, written and directed by Neil LaBute. The play is set to begin previews at New York's Public Theater on September 26 and open on Oct. 10.

Classical music critic Lloyd Schwartz shares his thoughts on the 250th anniversary of his favorite composer's birth: Mozart. Mozart was born on Jan. 27, 1756. (Music in the segment is from Mozart's opera Cosi Fan Tutte, taken from the DVD of the Peter Sellars production, conducted by Craig Smith on the Universal label.)

Book critic John Leonard reviews "On Mozart," by Anthony Burgess. It's a surreal novel about the composer Mozart. (published by Ticknor & Fields).

Classical music critic Lloyd Schwartz reviews a recording of 18th century flute quartets by the Mannheim Quartet. The group performs several of Mozart's quartets here on original instruments.

Musicologist H.C. Robbins Landon. His new book, "Mozart: The Golden Years," traces the most troubling and creative period of the composers life, the years 1781-91. During this period, Mozart completed three controversial operas, married and wooed his wife Constanze Weber, became entangled in financial difficulties, and lived through the death of his father. In this book, the second of two volumes on the life of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Landon, further explores the link between Mozart's "manic depressive disorder" and his creativity.

Classical music critic Lloyd Schwartz reviews Cho-Liang Lin's performance of Mozart's Third and Fifth Violin Concertos.