I use to collect only historical recordings of opera on compact disc.
Several months ago, something snapped inside me after I heard a recording
by Feuermann of Dvorak's Cello Concerto, and I have steadily built up my
taste in the rest of classical (small c) music.  As I have written before,
I have been moved by the playing of Feurerman, Huberman, Oistraikh and
Mravinsky.  I have fallen in love recently with the pianists Friedman, Von
Sauer, and Cortot, and I am still trying to discern great from sublime
playing in the piano.  I am also trying to develop my taste in conductors.
Mravinsky seems to be the sort of conductor with whom every performance is
a new experience, his Leningrad Philharmonic a collection of virtuosos in
perfect synchrony.

I wish to challenge the LP lovers on this list.  They (quite correctly)
brag about the pleasure of seeking that which is no longer available, the
hunt for the treasure that yields the beautiful sound.

I assert that compact discs are evolving the same way.  Releases,
particularly historical re-releases, are issued and deleted almost as
fast.  The finest selection of classical music in the world, the Greenwich
Village Tower is an extraordinary repository of riches.  There is nothing
to compare (in compact discs) in all the world, save England where I hear
there are great stores.

I await the list's thoughts about any of my remarks.

Happy New Year!

David Bresch (in NYC currently)
Philadelphia