J.A.W.

I'll post a new, dedicated topic.

Mike, Could you recommend a few? I know they released a 2CD-set with François Couperin harpsichord works by Blandine Verlet and also a 2CD-set with Louis Couperin harpsichord works by Christophe Rousset, but I've never heard them. Rousset's interpretations of François Couperin's Livres de clavecin on Harmonia Mundi are interesting, but the CDs are OOP and insanely expensive. I must admit that I've neglected CDs with solo harpsichord baroque pieces in general. Any recommendations anyone? Absolutely no piano, please

Are you sure he didn't have valves?

Correct. According to the Mosaic booklet some of the tracks were also released on a Storyville CD (STCD-4109) under different titles.

They're not losing it, just an approach in search for a different one. The music always is more than the notes, it also encompasses the sound, and that is linked to instruments. Cellos or violins in Bach's time sounded different, that's a fact. The introduction of steel strings and higher tension and modern tunings changes the sound a lot. Like Skip Sempé stated: "In most fine music written before the 1950s, the sound and the composition were linked by the composer. Some performers do not care about this, and some listeners don't care either, but that was clearly the method behind the tradition in question. Without any doubt, this is the manner in which harpsichord music was conceived." I appreciate the approach of a lot of these players, but I just can't get around to like their sound. "These players" being the non-HIP, what some would call "romantic" performers, I assume, or am I misunderstanding what you're saying? I tend to agree with that, though for me it's not a "black and white" case.

I don't download, but I do want to hear samples (at least of really unfamiliar stuff), including samples of things not available other than on CD. So this is a bummer for me. Same here.

Why not turn up the volume? They don't sound bad. You know, I hadn't thought of that. Seriously, I really have to crank it up to hear these. It shouldn't be necessary. The low price makes up for it though. What I meant is that having to turn the volume up is better than a (serious) loss of dynamics that is the result of loud, "modern" mastering with lots of added digital compression/limiting/what have you. In those cases turning the volume down isn't going to help, that doesn't make up for lost dynamics, what's gone is gone.

No, I don't have it either.

Why not turn up the volume? They don't sound bad.

Any further news yet on Bootleg #2, such as a release date?

Sounds good.

I mentioned that one in post #3 Thanks for the info, Flurin.

It's not listed on the Concord site (they own Milestone.) Just checked the various Amazon sites; according to Amazon Italy it's been available there since March 22 and it's only 19 euros plus change and shipping. It seems to be an Italian Concord release. There are other Concord boxed sets on Amazon Italy, like an 11CD Eric Dolphy set with his Prestige/New Jazz recordings for 33 euros.

That's not quite correct, the UA material was reissued on CD in Japan a few years ago. It's now OOP. Anyway, the Mosaic is a great set.

He needs to be dealt with in The Hague. We don't want him

Sad news.

I'm aware that you and many others here are not exactly fans of that site, but I thought I'd post the link anyway for those few who might be interested. I hope this doesn't turn into another Hoffman board bashing thread.

Discussion about these on the Hoffman board Org board member Claude, who isn't posting much here anymore, is taking part in the discussion over there.

Stateside was originally a U.K. label, indeed owned by EMI, that issued American recordings, hence the name. It was formed in the 1960s and it's now mainly a reissue label. I had quite a few Stateside LPs back in the 1960s.

It's a great set for people who are totally into Braxton's Arista stuff, but I returned it, it was "too much" for me.

I honestly can't remember how good or bad my TOCJ sounded, but, as I said above, I liked it better than the later Japanese reissue. I got rid of the Fresh Sound a long time ago.

Yep, I did, quite a while ago. I haven't listened to it in ages, but if I remember correctly it sounds like many TOCJs from that era and I liked it better than the later reissue Lon is referring to. Your mileage may vary

Thanks for the additional info, Flurin. I might try that 2CD-set. I'm not a Heifetz fan, so I'm going to pass on that one (my late parents loved Heifetz, back in the 78 era, something I never understood. To my ears he's too "perfect" and lacks emotional depth. Oh well.)

Larry, I'm not going to recommend any versions, since our tastes are usually very different. The reason I'm posting here is that I found a DG 2CD-set with Gilels/Kogan/Rostropovich in Beethoven's Op.97 (the Archduke trio) on Amazon. I have no idea if it's the Moscow recording from 1956, though. There's also a 5CD-set on the Doremi label with Op.97 by those three, but, judging by one of the reviews (scroll down), it might well be that a lot of noise reduction was used which could have affected the music badly.