Thank you one and all for your Bach recommendations.  I'm going to San
Francisco this weekend with my Smog Impact Fee refund in hand, (a fee
imposed on cars purchased out of state, recently deemed unconstitutional),
and I'm planning on putting my own personal little spike in the Year-2000
Classical CD Sales Graph.

Don writes of the Bach Cantatas:

>I bought the Rifkin recordings when they first came out quite a few
>years ago; my admiration and love of these recordings just grows with
>time.  At mid-price, they are a steal.

The mid-priced Rifkin set of Favorite Bach Cantatas looks like the one
to have.  I will probably pick up Rachel Podger's Sonatas and Partitas,
because Philip Peters points out her tendency towards "flowing lines."
Since no one had anything to say regarding Anna Magdalena's Notebook
recordings, I guess I'll have to choose Ormandy's set, based upon the
performance practice research of Leopold Stokowski....

Don writes:

>Although John and I have differed on many musical issues, I do note that
>we share a love for Bach and also for some very fine more recent composers
>such as Novak, Suk, and Schreker.

True--strange goings on lately:  my interest in Bach Cantatas, my agreement
with Don, and the State of California giving it's citizens back money.
If anyone hears reports of rivers turning to blood, dogs running in packs,
members of the Chicago Symphony Brass disappearing,* or Wagner's image
appearing on a Tortilla shell in Mexico, please let me know and I will
stay home and prepare for the Apocalypse.

*God had to postpone the last Apocalypse because the European brass players
He hired kept cracking on their high notes during rehearsal.

John Smyth