T.D.

Thanks again, will take into account. Adding to my frustration, Amazon's search engine has recently gone to hell. Search for Russell Sherman's cycle seems to redirect to one by Bernard Roberts, and the customer reviews thereof refer to several different sets (incl. Nat, Badura-Skoda)! Hard to trust them either. No wonder I've been going more to discogs or even eBay of late...

Deepak, Thanks very much! Sherman has been on my "radar" because it's been praised by some reviewers whose tastes seem kind of parallel to mine. I gave my father the Heidsieck set some years ago, but he apparently lent it out and never got it back. Now that he has Alzheimer's there's nothing to do in that connection. Re. Distler, his reviews show technical grasp, but he's trashed many recordings I like. I listen to a lot of modern-ish music, so some of it could be down to conservatism. I have a feeling that in core repertoire he'll basically repeat "received values" and never recommend anything off-the run. Heidsieck and Sherman are both sets I'd buy in a flash at "the right price". Heidsieck was included in an EMI 50-cd Beethoven super-budget box, but that's oop and now hard to find. Unfortunately, some Amazon offerings are by the notorious momox from Germany, who I'm reluctant to trust with a significant order.

I've seen a quote to that effect. Squares with my experience. I absolutely loved baseball up to the age of around 12. I played the game then, and the big leaguers seemed heroic and larger than life. I read all the historical accounts and knew oodles of statistics. It gradually faded - as I grew up I developed other interests, and it became clear that I'd never go anywhere as a player ... And I find that many retirees / seniors become big baseball fans and follow all their team's games. My father, for instance, who was not big into baseball until the age of 70 or so.

A few weeks ago, I saw in a Woodstock art gallery a copy of the original concert program: Note that (as pointed out by Kyle Gann in link below) they botched 4'33" in the program! Interesting transcript of a talk by Gann on 4'33" here. The link at the top of this thread cites Gann.

PM sent on Introducing Kenny Cox $10 (Reading Mark Stryker's new book in which this recording, previously unknown to me, was mentioned.)

Recent Steeplechase order:

Looks like "Woodstock 50" will not happen: https://hudsonvalleyone.com/2019/07/18/woodstock-50s-latest-setback/ Oddly, this story does not mention Oppenheimer, the presumed Wall St. saviors. But I always thought Michael Lang was blowing smoke.

I'm with "just enjoy the spectacle". I once went to a single-A (short season) game in the NY-Penn League and found it weird because the level of play was so much below major league. Many of the players were on their first pro contract, some probably using wood bats for the first time, and a lot of guys were having serious trouble hitting, even overmatched. Lake County is in the Midwest League (single-A full season), so the level will be slightly higher, but still not impressive. I had some fun playing make-believe scout and trying to judge which players had chances of advancing to the big leagues. The game I attended was extremely kid-friendly, with lots of mascot activity, music, free souvenirs being tossed into the stands, etc.

Haven't read it, but I expect so. When Gann was still active on the internet (used to blog, and his website when active was a big resource), I read several excerpts/drafts from the book in process, which he posted as written. I think Gann's one of the best commentators on contemporary music, though some might not agree with his advocacy of "totalism".

I was somewhat joking...When I started collecting classical recordings (early '90s) I relied heavily on the Gramophone and Penguin Guides. There were some notable successes, but enough major clinkers that I stopped using such sources. Over time I came to rely more on discussion forum recommendations from people whose tastes I was familiar with, or (in the case of weird modern music) a few specialized web sites. I had to mention Distler because I read a lot of classicstoday reviews for a few years, and it was remarkable how often our opinions strongly diverged (admittedly more so for 20th century repertoire). I honest to God regard him as a contrarian indicator! And I once attended a concert (F. Rzewski solo @ Jazz Gallery, NYC) at which Distler was an MC/speaker, and he didn't make a great impression.

Thanks for the suggestions. For now I went for the Kovacevich set, just over US$ 17 shipped incl. sales tax (discogs). Have always meant to listen to his Sonatas, and for that matter Concerti, but never got around to it. The earlier Philips recordings of the Sonatas seem slightly better regarded, but are not a complete set and are easily available only within a "Complete Philips" megabox. Funny addendum: I notice that classicstoday.com's piano expert Jed Distler does not love Kovacevich. But my tastes differ strongly from Distler, to the point that I consider him practically a contrarian indicator.

I own 2 complete LvB piano sonata sets: Kempff mono and Yves Nat. Would purchase Eric Heidsieck at a reasonable price (I'm somewhat of a Francophile re. classical performance). Want to add a good modern set which is somehow different, eccentricities welcome if they're well done. The set by Andrea Lucchesini has gotten great reviews, but seems impossible to find. Thinking that the set by Daniel-Ben Pienaar might fit the bill, highly individualistic but overall well-received. Can anyone comment on the Pienaar set? Other recommendations welcome.

My copy "shipped" on 7/10, arrived today! Never made it into the tracking system (which still reads "USPS awaiting shipment"), but that seems to happen a lot these days. Maybe it's the "shipping partner" firms. [Added 7/16] About halfway through, greatly enjoying it. The Curtis Fuller, Louis Hayes and Ron Carter profiles are highlights so far, and the others haven't been chopped liver...

I came close to getting it at a good price once, but missed. I'm sure I'd like a good chunk of it, but at full Mosaic price and with the cumbersome large box format, I can't make such a big investment if a significant portion will be rarely played.

I like the Douglas box. Can't comment on the others. [Added] Independently own a couple of discs from the Lacy solo/duet box and they're excellent, so I expect that set would be good.

When much younger (61 now) I fantasized about running with the bulls. I concluded that it was too risky (surprise ). It's not just down to one's running ability / evasive skills; you could get caught up in a crowd, have someone trip and fall in front of you,..., and wind up getting gored "through no fault of your own" (other than being there in the first place, of course).

Hey, let's mix metaphors and sign the fighting fatties up for the Pamplona bull run!

Agreed on crappy format. If not bootlegs, I would consider the Brown if there are compelling price reasons (don't own the original albums, which I suspect are expensive). Perhaps also the Ayler, but like felser I haven't investigated content. If bootlegs, no interest.

Doesn't this happen every year (or very nearly so)? I always assumed the risk is part of the reason for daring to make the run.

Going back to the original video,

No doubt. But my experience in the Northeast is that fans get tanked up before the game. I went to the first Yankees-Mariners playoff game in 1995. Taking a pregame walk down River Ave., I was terrified by the immense number of obvious drunks walking around. And the game featured constant fan fights popping up, not just in the stands but in the walkways leading to concession stands and restrooms. At a NY football Giants game, when entering the stadium I passed by a monstrous dumpster into which fans were tossing their last pregame beer bottles. Every gate had one. It was a little unnerving to contemplate the number of inebriates at the game.

Whew. Makes me happy that I no longer (a) drink; (b) attend sports events. Off-topic, but I couldn't help noticing a distinct lack of slender people in the video. No doubt a lotta heavy beer drinkers.

PM sent.