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Mozart's might have been expected to overwhelm almost any other anniversaries on the calendar this year. Who can hope to stand against such an iconic composer? Bach, undoubtedly. Beethoven, Handel, Schubert, yes. But Shostakovich? Does anyone seriously rank him alongside Mozart as a composer?

Mr Williams's views (Letters, June) on the advantage brought by CD to home listening as compared with LP. It is not only the absence of pops and clicks but the increase in the dynamic range that LP is unable to achieve, due to limitations in the groove size, and the elimination of distortion...

So Universal is dumping SACD. What is the matter with the record companies and, more to the point, what is the matter with the CD buying public? In a parallel universe we are being told we will have to discard our televisions and switch to digital within the next five years and furthermore,...

I am a great Anja Silja appreciater! Patrick O'Connor begins his article on Silja by asserting that she made her debut at Covent Garden in March 1969 in Fidelio. Some of us were fortunate enough to have caught her in the same opera on February 4, 1967, standing in as a last minute replacement for...

It was very interesting reading of Anja Silja (May, page 36) and her debut as Leonore in Fidelio at Covent Garden. My wife and I were actually at this performance sitting in the amphitheatre and I watched Kiemperer through my binoculars. Following the end of the overture he promptly placed his...

It's little wonder that sales of classical CDs are slow when the distributors seem so disorganised. Time and again I have tried to buy CDs that were favourably reviewed, only to find that they are unavailable. My most recent experiences arose from the February edition of The Gramophone. I wanted...