Contents

The best operatic recordings ever made, in my opinion, were those made for Decca by John Culshaw, precisely because he gave the voices the space and the acoustic that they would have in the opera house—and this did not mean that they were drowned by the orchestra. What we hear on most...

I refer to Edward Greenfield's review of the "New Year's Concert" 1993 CD (March, page 58). EG quotes from the booklet which accompanies this CD that "it was not until 1921 that the Vienna Philharmonic played a Strauss waltz at all". This is totally incorrect. Let me put the record straight.

May I appeal to readers who may have information about two singers who were prominent before the war, but who, alas, have seemingly vanished from the face of the earth? No reference books, periodicals or newspapers have ever—as far as I can trace—recorded either of their demises.

On the happy occasion of your seventieth anniversary may I remind readers whose memories may not extend quite so far back that the price of recorded music has scarcely increased since the publication of the very first GRAMOPHONE magazine in April 1923.

Miss Mildenhall's letter in February contains an admirable listing of the various costs of recording and distribution of classical CDs.

In his Contributor's note in November (page 6), David Fanning warned readers about a nine-bar omission in Deutsche Grammophon's Galleria reissue of Karajan's 1967 recording of Shostakovich's Tenth Symphony (CD 429 716-2GGA). This cut, first noted by Mr Graham Brooker in the journal of DSCH (the...

May I say how pleased I am to see that you have re-introduced jazz reviews. It was nearly 60 years ago that I first read the magazine, for Edgar Jackson's reviews in the 1930s. Although my tastes have broadened and I have been taking GRAMOPHONE since 1945, it is pleasant to have the original...

Following Geraint Lewis's letter (January) concerning the works of the late William Mathias, as Publicity Officer for Sam Records in North Wales, I can happily confirm that we have just released a cassette and CD of the Pembrokeshire Youth Choir and Westward Chamber Orchestra which features Ave...

I read Bryce Morrison's eloquent review of Martha Argerich's Liszt Sonata (February, page 60) with such a sense of loss. Argerich's brilliant artistry and supreme virtuosity have fascinated me for years. If she needs any encouragement to return to the solo repertoire, I offer it now! What a loss...

I was delighted to read, on page 96 of March's GRAMOPHONE, of a recording of Handel's Tesco; "food for thought", as SS so aptly remarked in his review. Perhaps the same forces might be persuaded to give us Verdi's Asda as a follow-up?

The annual meeting of the Federation of Recorded Music Societies takes place at Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge between April 2nd and 5th. Speakers include GRAMOPHONE'S Audio Director John Borwick and former Editor, Malcolm Walker, the conductor Geoffrey Simon, Ruth Edge, curator of EMI's archive...

Mark Doran writes that he is collecting material for a full-scale study of the work of the late Hans Keller (1919-85). If any readers have in their possession tape-recordings, letters or other documents that would be of assistance, he would most grateful if they would contact him at 37 Poulton...

Gary Brain, whose forthcoming Pickwick CD of Rossini's Petite messy solennelle was announced in "News and Views" last month (page 24), writes that, contrary to Pickwick's press release, he is the nephew not the son of the born-player Dennis Brain.