T.D.

That's a nice set! Only minor quibble is that it doesn't include the full contents of Aimard's awesome "Ligeti Edition Vol. 3, Works for Piano" disc.

Probably. Somewhere in the '78-81 time frame, I think very late '70s more likely.

I think Eddie Condon's was, too, but they may have been on 54th St. by then! I dimly remember going to both Ryan's and Condon's (at least one for sure ); they were practically next door to each other iirc. I definitely recall Max Kaminsky hawking his LPs at the back of one of the clubs. As a NYC tourist in the late '70s-early '80s, I might have been naive, but regarded the 54th St. survivors as the last of "52nd St.". I believe "52nd St. loosely interpreted" ended for good when a big new building went up in 1983 (?) and the (brownstone) bldgs housing the remaining clubs on 54th were demolished (as happened on 52nd in 1962, see Wiki citation below). [Added] Condon's opens @ 144 W 54 in 1975 1976 article on Ryan's, which moved to 154 W 54 in 1963. According to Wikipedia, "52nd St." proper seems to have ended in 1962, though I'm never 100% sure of Wiki assertions.

If you go the Berkshire route, I recommend avoiding the Joanna MacGregor recording. Back when I more actively explored modern classical music, I purchased several of her recordings (other composers, granted) and disliked them all...

I bought the Austbo when it was a newish release. Found it good enough to not pursue alternatives, but I'm not a Messiaen enthusiast (20 Regards... and Quartet for the End of Time are my favorite pieces of his, fwiw). Serkin's recording seems well-regarded and is probably very good. If I was to explore alternatives (not likely at present), I'd want to hear Loriod on Erato (for historical reasons) and Aimard on Teldec (I trust him in modern repertory). Steven Osborne on Hyperion got some excellent reviews, but I don't know enough about him to comment.

Liked their recording of #s 6,7 and 8 (OK, could have done without the short vocal addendum, but it was in memoriam Salvatore Martirano). Enjoyed the music, and the performances are (as far as I can ascertain) excellent, so decided to complete the set. Won't receive these for a while, as I ordered from European Amazon resellers.

Yeah, while I was typing I got an alert that you had replied, but didn't bother to read it. I can't see a way to delete my post.

RIP. I wonder if he was related to the Dutch electronic music composer (among other things) Dick_Raaymakers .

Bit late to the party with this. Reads somewhat like a collection of expanded magazine articles (which I think it is), but pretty darn good, though absolutely terrifying IMO. Further comments suppressed due to potential political content. Disclosure: I've read most of Lewis's books, and we worked at the same firm back in the Liar's Poker days.

Discs 1 and 2 so far. Surprised she's not more popular. I grant that she takes some interpretive liberties, but have always enjoyed her playing.

My collection is too heavy on EMI recordings with von Karajan ("Fluffy" as they used to call him on rec.music.classical.recordings ) and Schwarzkopf. Years ago I paid too much attention to Gramophone and the Penguin Guide. But I don't listen often enough to justify getting duplicate recordings...

The Paris Transatlantic and NewMusicBox interviews are great. I just spun the old Stanford Qt. recording of Johnston's SQ #9 and it's pretty darn good, much less "thorny" than I wrongly recalled.

https://www.economist.com/christmas-specials/2018/12/18/sacred-choral-music-touches-on-deep-religious-moral-and-political-questions

Ditto the on Henry. The Hazeltine Horace tribute looks interesting!

Long-time microtonal (just intonation) American composer. His string quartet cycle has waited a long time for a full recording, recently done by the Kepler Qt . on New World. There are a few recordings on other American labels. Best introduction is probably the disc "Ponder Nothing" of chamber music (my father loves this album(!), which is very "accessible"). The entire 9th quartet is on a Laurel disc by Stanford Qt. I haven't listened in a long time, but recall it as pretty thorny. The 4th "Amazing Grace" was recorded by Kronos on "White Man Sleeps"; I'm not a big Kronos fan so reserve judgment. A vocal piece "Letter from Calamity Jane..." on the CRI "Urban Diva" disc by Dora Ohrenstein. There's a "Microtonal Piano" disc by Phillip Bush on Koch which is interesting but sounds a bit "plink-plonk" in places (probably the serial Sonata) iirc. Not clear that I'll love the quartet cycle, but it's a "major event" in the microtonal sector, so I ought to give it a spin. Quite a few good interviews out there, for instance: http://www.paristransatlantic.com/magazine/interviews/johnston.html https://nmbx.newmusicusa.org/a-conversation-with-ben-johnston/ https://www.npr.org/sections/deceptivecadence/2016/12/31/507542859/ben-johnston-hears-the-notes-between-the-notes

Typing "haba" into the Berkshire search function yields 50 hits, two of which feature Alois's compositions. The vast majority involve "habanera".

Thanks. Meaning was clear enough from context. I'm curious about the etymology.

Interesting. I'm currently reading a book (Dameronia by Paul Combs) that frequently uses "contrafact". He's an academic and the book is published by U. of California Press. My dictionary (New Shorter OED) has "contrafactum" but not "contrafact", so I assume the latter is a relatively new term. I'd like to consult the OED, but don't own a copy and it's not available online. The Wiki entry says "not to be confused with contrafactum", so I have some doubt that the jazz term derives from the classical one.

Cool. I put the set in my Berkshire cart for future purchase, but it went out of stock. Really enjoyed the clips I sampled. There's a newer set (mentioned above) performed by the Haba Quartet, but I may instead try Ben Johnston's quartet cycle, 3 fairly recent CDs by the Kepler Quartet on New World. Johnston's quartets are (as I understand it) in "just intonation" and more "integrally" microtonal. I've heard a reasonable amount of Johnston's music, but only one quartet so far.