A friend of mine is a huge Beethoven enthusiast and is sad that her favourite recording of the 9th symphony is a cassette that has been loved to death and is no longer playable. The performance is Rudolf Kempe conducting the Munich Philharmonic and it used to be available (in Britain) on the Classics for Pleasure label. Now, has it been picked up anywhere else on CD? I suspect it wouldn't matter if it were only available as part of a set. In particular, I'd love to know if it is still available in Japan as my husband is going there in a few months. Curiously, the second (!) movement can be found on Seraphim's 'Best Loved Classics, Volume 10', but that isn't enough. Virginia Knight [log in to unmask] Personal homepage: http://www.ilrt.bris.ac.uk/~ggvhk/virginia.html