T.D.

Wow! I have a handful of these recordings, and it's an outstanding series! I never buy such mega-boxes, because of the likelihood of ending up with a surfeit of CDs I never listen to, but this is one of the most tempting I've seen. Thanks. [Added] But how do you figure free shipping to USA? I see 79.95 Euros (which is around USD 108) with free shipping to Germany only.

Very much the same reaction for me. Have heard the War Requiem live several times, and multiple operas (those named above plus Death in Venice and Paul Bunyan), some twice. Lots of respect for Britten's music, but never warmed to it; granted I'm much more familiar with the operas. Re. the Bostridge quote ("...Britten has never been fully absorbed into the mainstream of classical music and considers whether it has something to do with Britten's preoccupation with troubled, alienated characters and situations - exemplified in operas such as Peter Grimes and Turn of the Screw."), I'm inclined to agree. I find Britten an outstanding, possibly "great" (to the extent I'm qualified to judge) opera composer, but have always found his operas rather off-putting, even somewhat creepy and repellent on certain levels. I think it has to do with the troubled characters/situations, but also the gay subtext - Britten seems to have been extremely unhappy, even tormented about his sexuality's place in society. (All IMO of course.)

Hey, you don't have to convince me! I've been saying for years now that an all-juiced Olympics would be loads of fun! How could you tell the difference? As a long-time athletics fan who's been forced to become somewhat expert on doping, I'm totally convinced that the Olympics are the "major leagues", the apotheosis, the absolute pinnacle of sports doping. "Better living through chemistry"!

This is a weird release, but I really like some of Lawson's and Wyands's sideman recordings (with George Adams and RRK respectively). A shot in the dark, but I've been a big purchaser of the BS/SN boxes...

Agreed. Anecdote re. dirtbag: My sister works for a large magazine publisher in NYC. A few years ago, one of the magazines (I didn't ask which one, so don't know) decided to run a feature on LANCE. They could not find a single employee who wanted to work on the story, due to LANCE's extensive history of / reputation for assholicity. (I presume some arms were twisted in order to write the story.)

The first thing that popped into my noggin was "beard"...Surprised that angle isn't getting more play, but frankly, I've been avoiding coverage of this bizarre story.

Apologies for tardiness, but I've been busy and scarce on the forum. Best belated wishes! :party:

I've bought some new merchandise (box sets) from them with no problem, as recently as last fall. The one used CD transaction I did with them (a year or so ago iirc) was disappointing, as condition was less than advertised. I didn't follow up, because the CD played and I didn't want to go through the hassle, but I wouldn't order used product from them again

I'm not a big QT fan, but actually watched IB twice because of Waltz, whose performance I ranked incredibly high. I feel compelled to see Django for the same reason, but will probably wait until it comes out on DVD.

Serena and I say "Happy Birthday!"

http://www.nytimes.c...ggles.html?_r=0 Last December, using the alias Kelly Lundy, Favor Hamilton began working for an escort service, she said. She told The Smoking Gun that it was “exciting,” though her husband disapproved. “He tried to get me to stop,” Favor Hamilton told the Web site. “He wasn’t supportive of this at all.” I remember her..."All-American girl", umpteen high school and NCAA championships, never successful in Olympics, very attractive. Puzzling story.

Tania Sachdev just had the highest TPR (tournament performance rating) in a "Ladies vs. Veterans" event http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=8713, which merits another pic:

Best wishes and many more!

It's a good one! I've bought quite a few of the Black Saint/Soul Note boxes, and the Pullen and Adams boxes are the ones I listen to most often.

It's one of those strange ironies. The series was endlessly bashed by the cognoscenti on rec.music.classical.recordings* (I used to read some Usenet newsgroups). Some volumes were hot and others not, the series went oop and the mega-boxes didn't seem to sell all that well, cropping up at remainder sites like Berkshire. But, several years on, quoted prices are really high. That seems to happen a lot, especially for things I missed! *Old-time r.m.c.r. readers will recall that the GPOC series was at least partially compiled (I forget details) by the notorious poster Tom Deacon.

Not to sound obnoxious, but I remember when those GPOC boxes were selling cheaply at Berkshire Record Outlet and elsewhere...

PM sent on Ornette Coleman Beauty Is A Rare Thing: The Complete Atlantic Recordings 6 CDs set. CDs in good condition. Outer box has quite a bit of wear to corners and edges...This is still available with small price drop.

You already mentioned my two staples, the Messiah and Christmas Oratorio...Not the most unique or imaginative, but so it goes.

Have a happy and most excellent birthday! :party:

RIP. I always had the highest respect for Miller, and the fact that I pay less attention to pro sports than I ever did has nothing to do with him (it's probably changing tastes accompanying aging...).

For my annual clueless guess...Toronto 65.

Have been spending a lot of time with this. I prefer the more recent discs (esp. 6, 7, 8), but they're all pretty good. The occasional use of synthesizer is not really to my taste, but it's not a deal-breaker.

I've been reading Philip Kerr's "Bernie Gunther" series. Very interesting concept: a noirish and hard-boiled detective's progress and survival through Germany in the 1930s and 40s (with everything that entails), and subsequent globe-trotting exile. I'm on the seventh of eight (so far). Unusually for such a series, the writing generally improves book to book. Kerr took a 15-year sabbatical from the series at one point. I recommend these unless you have an aversion to or are tired of Nazi-related books.

Nothing new under the sun...in the realm of Times Square tourist trap eateries, the truly infamous (and not mourned) Mamma Leone's was universally panned in even harsher terms for decades, including by the Times iirc (I'm too lazy to search for citations, though)... This new spot seems to add an extra level of pretentiousness, so kudos to the reviewer.

Jim Hall played on the Contemporary All Night Sessions (v. 1-3) and Kessel on Four!!! iirc. Happy Hampton Hawes Day! Blues for Bud is my favorite Hawes album. I'm a relative latecomer to jazz, but Hamp was instrumental in my "conversion" - his trio version of "My Romance" on the above album got me curious...