David Ayers

True but as everyone now knows I am very comfortable with non-ownership so this is great for me! And, uh, yes I do know of course....

Thanks for the links! I have a soft spot for the Ligeti trio...and I certainly heart PatKop!

Well the Aimard is the most essential I think. You probably want the string quartets if you don't have them, although I personally don't care for the first one which is among his early works (none of which I care for) and I think it only gets recorded because 1 + 2 makes for a tidy-looking package. I don't want the opera as I wouldn't listen to it. Of the other works that first reviewer basically thinks what I think - the important works are the ones he lists. I mean, heck, it's cheap, but it is too complete - although the etudes which he continued to write are not complete and you have to go out of your way to get the last few...for example to Aimard's, um, shall we say 'original' African Rhythms disc (not keen) which includes three later ones, I think, and even that may not include the very last one (can't remember). I guess there's no harm in adding it to the pile but for me the piles have turned into bad Feng Shui so I tend to edit out (maybe more than I should? I can only listen to a few notes at a time).

...Although actually I did just read through the comments on amazon and every work he picks out I know in one version or another, the others I thought I didn't need to know...so even at this price I am wondering whether my original decisions should just stand...

Thanks for the news on the Sony Ligeti. Got a couple of the singles. Long familiar with Ligeti, was fairly sure I didn't need much of that material, the stuff on Teldec is more important for me, but at the right price this could well be the time...

i believe you're referring to a seperate 'prestige 7000' series.... Yes it is Prestige titles - I mentioned it for the SHM connection - don't want to derail the thread.... Just grateful that Universal Japan are keeping busy...

I see from hmv.co.jp that Universal Japan have more SHM-CD titles coming (UCCO 5xxx). Nothing completely new I don't think but some titles that have only ever been Japan-only like Freddie Redd Piano East/West. But could be wrong and I guess when one of us gets round to making a list we'll know for sure.

Love the Beecham! Salonen is all a bit Picard to the classic Karajan Kirk. Modern management style and all.

Took a stab at Kempff on Schubert, not for the first time. Less my cup of tea than ever.

All fine but where am i going to get my fake passports from now??

I well remember that - and I also remember that if I went to Rays, Dobells or Mole in London I would be very unlikely to walk out without parting with some cash. There were some very good distribution channels in those days. Well yes you say that and I used those stores myself (Rays still do) but finding the information was really much more difficult. These days I can get detailed discography online and my friend the internet does the rest. Complete and current information on Japanese releases, instant updates on label sites in the US, Poland, you name it. And on the back of the internet more contemporary releases than ever - haven't you noticed that the likes of Brotzmann, Parker (both of them), Prevost etc. etc. are doing more now than ever before and bringing back much of the back catalog with them? Sure this is falling off but we have not gone off the cliff yet and I still say there is more about and more readily findable than ever before.

Isn't this what Spotify is for?

Some funny things there I guess but I agree with GAR - most of these are a good shot, all things considered. These are states, not nations, so the need-to-know is a little bit different, from a European perspective. I like 'no one knows' (for Kansas) and 'Big Scotland' (for Canada)...

@xybert - nice analogy! It is weird that while all the background noise goes on the consumer appears never to have had it so good. Yes the delivery structures change, and sure we don't get re-re-masters of some of the older stuff that (whisper it quietly) isn't that good. But there is still a sea of new releases and - more to the point - there are great musicians on the scene who keep popping up in gigs everywhere you turn your head. So two cheers for the music industry! @Dick Bowman - I wonder if you remember in pre-internet times how much harder it was to even know about material, let alone find it! Times are guuud for the consumer...

'Annual Edition 2013' Haven't seen one for years - once the euromosaics started I bought mainly those and I guess I dropped off the list. I feel almost giddy.

OK I missed streaming... I'm really wondering though about the question how far is this just change and how far decline. The market we are talking about here is a niche and I've never really quite understood how some of the name artists have been able to send 200+ titles into it over a career. Of course hard copy sales are declining - it isn't so long ago that online mail-order retailers were being blamed for the decline of bricks and mortar. Some things just change. Re. Mail order from US, yes like others I've been priced out by exchange rate, duty, and shipping costs over recent years - except for those amazon sellers who seem to ship in bulk to Europe then ship the individual items within Europe. That *does* seem to keep costs down and you can order individual items one at a time to avoid duty.

I wonder how much is price competition, how much download sales, how much illegal copying. And how much just declining interest in piling up recordings of stuff in favor of live performance? Or just - music is a bit boring, period - ? I notice he doesn't mention euro-pd labels or streaming as factors.

I can't tell you what OOP beauty I am currently checking on Spotify in case you go on amazon and order the one remaining copy at a bargain price. Sorry. Aagh! Now I'm afraid you might guess!

Copland is one in a line of American democratic popularisers - think Bernstein, Previn, Marsalis. What's wrong with trying to communicate your art?

Thanks for posting that Larry. Albeit in brief, it indicates what the parameters of such a discussion should be.

Quite interested in these recs. I am not so enamoured of piano repertoire. I know the Schubert mainly through Uchida but never really learned to love those recordings so am always happy to try others. Although...I have heard quite a few others....

I'd love to hear Evan with those guys. ECM made a great call in releasing this. One of a string of outstanding releases from that label in recent times.

This link to spotify might help to end the speculation: Végh Quartet – Beethoven: String Quartets Nos. 1-16 (Complete) (Vegh Quartet) (1952)

Ronnie Laws, Slight Temperature Eddie Gale, Gentrified Neighborhood Music OK seems I am not cut out for this kind of work.

And most famously on Dolphy's last recordings, right?