By STEVE SMITH [NY Times, 8 August 2008]

SANTA FE, N.M.

MOZART, it almost goes without saying, was a phenomenon: a composer whose startling abilities and mature insight into the human condition have earned nearly universal admiration. For composers, on the other hand, Mozart can be a problem. Kaija Saariaho, a Finnish composer who is in residence at the Mostly Mozart Festival at Lincoln Center this summer, will be sharing the stage — figuratively at least — with a forebear whose example nearly stifled her own creativity.