By ALLAN KOZINN [NY Times, 25 August 2006]
In its two opera productions this summer, Mostly Mozart focused on the protracted moment when Mozart found his operatic voice. Passing over his nine early-stage works, from ìApollo et Hyacinthusî through ìIl Re Pastore,î the festival first looked at ìZaide,î an incomplete score that was fleshed out here with orchestral interludes from ìThamos.î It didnít work particularly well: a listener more taken with the ìThamosî borrowings than with ìZaideî might have wished that the pit band, Concerto Kˆln, had played a symphonic concert instead.