The June issue of IRR has just made it to my mailbox, and, after carping
last week about issues that are mainly secondary (typography, layout) or
beyond the publishers' control (advertising content), I wanted to reassert
my enthusiasm about this new publication.

The reviews are of a very high standard, and, refreshingly, extend past
issues from the usual large companies to the efforts of smaller labels I
haven't seen reviewed elsewhere. And if, for instance, I take issue with
John T. Hughes "balanced" review of the DG box set celebrating the 75th
birthday of Fischer-Dieskau (a singer so high in my pantheon as to preclude
anything but silence or the most lavish encomiums), I congratulate the
editors on their nonchalant iconoclasm vis-a-vis both the majors and
domestic (British) labels.

This is an indispensible publication, and we must hope that readers and
advertisers will quickly recognize it for the treasure it is.

Robert Gray <[log in to unmask]>