Bach’s music is academic. It can be quite revealing if you are taking it apart note by note and using it for study.. but not much else in terms of listening enjoyment. Just my opinion. But as a composer, Mozart has no equal. There’s Mozart, and there’s everybody else.
Without Bach there’s no Boston. I have three issues with the list; Stravinsky, Bartok and Verdi perhaps I wouldn’t have here and I’d surely make room for Piotr Illich.
I will agree with this. Mozart was the only composer who instinctively knew how to write for every instrument he used, including voice. Every singer out there will tell you that their favorite composer is Mozart.
As for the list - it's all so subjective. I'd put Strauss, Bruckner, Puccini, Saint-Saens, and a few others ahead of Stravinsky. And then there were the Venetians - Vivialdi, Montiverdi, Galluppi - all could adapt their composing to the room better than Beethoven and Bach could. But, they had a different purpose. I won't argue Verdi at all or to an extent Schubert, but that's my taste.
Really, if you look at this list, it's more a list of composers who changed the game. Each was the initiator of a specific style. That has to be the only reason Wagner made the list. Talk about long-winded.
Worth repeating.
Vivaldi must be on the list.