If David Shallon's death is confirmed, then it would be very sad news indeed. Not only was he a great conductor, but also a very kind man. We played Vaughan Williams's Tallis Fantasia and Stravinsky's Concerto for strings with him in a French summer festival, 20 years ago. Definitely one of my fondest memories from that period. Are any of his performances of 20th-century Israeli music available on CD? I can only think of one published by the Israeli Music Institute (http://www.aquanet.co.il/vip/imi/): Yinam LEEF (1953) Symphony No.1 (1981/92) Violin Concerto (1983) Bat-Sheva Savaldi-Kohlberg, violin Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, David Shallon, conductor MII CD 16 (1995) I also remember his conducting the Psalm from Paul Ben-Haim's Symphony No. 1 (1940) on a radio broadcast, as well as Joseph Tal's Symphony No. 5 (1991). Ben-Haim's symphony as a whole is an impressive statement, well worth a revival. As for Tal's 5th, there is no doubting its directness and powerful, uncompromising eloquence. I seem to recall that it was performed, maybe even premiered by the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra and Daniel Barenboim. Best wishes, Thanh-Tam Le [log in to unmask]