Bert Bailey wrote: >I'm puzzled by the criteria for inclusion in this series. I assume you mean the 100-volume set from Philips. You are not the first to be curious about the criteria, though in general they did a pretty good job overall I think. The sheer size of the thing helped ensure scope. >Specifically: why isn't Marc-Andre Hamelin (b. 1961) represented? Though one can never discount the power of politics in such things, in the specific case of the omission of Hamelin, I suspect it had may have been primarily about licensing. The project, a joint undertaking between Steinway & Sons and Philips, was able to do extensive cross-licensing of material on other major labels. Obviously, getting material from Universal labels (such as London, DG, etc.) should not have been much of a problem, but I believe they included material from other majors as well, such as EMI and RCA. I don't believe they had similar agreements with independent labels. Hamelin has recorded for Hyperion, Isba, Helicon, New World, Fleur De Lys, Altarus, SNE, Music & Arts, and probably a few others I've missed. This is far outside the scope of the labels involved. >A musiclover from this list guessed it's because he's too young. I wouldn't be surprised if that was also a factor. As you point out they did include Kissin (Sony & RCA) and Pletnev (DG, EMI & Virgin), but that's probably because their recordings were more easily available. Then Kissin and Pletnev probably have a much larger fan base too. And, of course, Hamelin's is not a Russian pianist, so that's another mark against him right there. :-) >Also, would anyone recommend their favourite(s) in this series for me? I suppose that depends on where your interests lie. Among many others, the two John Ogdon volumes are perhaps necessities. Dave [log in to unmask] http://www.classical.net/