I know that there are several modern-music lovers on this list, and so
was wondering if there was anyone else besides me who thinks that Leif
Segerstam is a neglected great composer.  I first became interested in
him in the early 1970s when those strange but marvelous BIS LPs came
out, with his string quartets, piano duos, the tone-poem "Patria" (which
I heard him conduct live with the Cincinnati Symphony in the late 1970s),
the wind quintet "A Noooooooowwww," the violin concerto, etc.  The last
releases I have of his own music are a couple of BIS CDs of his symphonies.
I know he has made his career primarily as a conductor--in addition to
the CSO concert, I also heard him conduct a gorgeous "La Boheme" at the
Met with Pavarotti (when I got his autograph)--but wondered if any other
listers share my enthusiasm for his meterless, flowing, melting-clock
style of composition, not to mention the strange emotional aura it
creates.  (I particularly enjoy listening to the last movement of his
Quartet in memory of Gustav Mahler in the dark...it creates an aural
atmosphere that is palpable to me.)

Sheila