Hello. I'm new to this list so I don't know what has been discussed in the past. Has Norman Lebrecht's work been discussed at all? I wrote a long review of his latest book which was published in an obscure British magazine. I can post it if anyone is interested, though it has heavy left-wing political commentary. I have lots of questions mostly related to which records to buy. Are the pre-WWII Toscanini recordings (I'm thinking of Beethoven) preferable to his RCA/NBC cycle he did in the 50's? How is the sound quality on the Naxos Historical Toscanini series? What is the best cycle of Beethoven and Mozart violin sonatas to pick up? I'm strongly favored to the Haskil/Grumiaux set but am biased in favor of historical recordings.I have the Naxos series of B's violin sonatas as well as the Askenazy/Perlman and quite enjoy them. Naxos has been a pleasant surprise, most of the recordings I've heard are good quality...Lebrecht gives a good account of its genesis... Also what do list members think of Koussevitsky's BSO recording of the Beethoven 3 Tch. 5? I picked up mint LP's for $2 each the other day and think they are the best I've heard though I've never heard Furtwangler's Tch. Has the work of Maynard Solomon been discussed? I don't want to bore list members with topics that have been discussed in the past. Is the list mostly dedicated to discussing the music itself or is socio-political-historical context discussed too? Pardon the name dropping but, presumably, everyone knows what I am talking about. Thanks, Sam Pawlett