J.A.W.

Actually, 36 - below are the (almost) complete cycles I have (I was thinking of getting rid of some of them, but no one wants classical CDs anymore, so I might as well keep them): (listed chronologically, with recording dates) Wilhelm Kempff (Polydor, Grammophon; incomplete, 1925-1936, 1940-1943) Artur Schnabel (EMI; 1932-1937) Rudolf Serkin (RCA; incomplete, 1941-1977) Wilhelm Backhaus (Decca; 1950-1954) Wilhelm Kempff (DG; 1951-1956) Walter Gieseking (EMI; incomplete, 1951-1956) Solomon (EMI; incomplete, 1951-1956) Yves Nat (EMI; 1953-1955) Wilhelm Backhaus (Decca; incomplete, 1958-1969) Claudio Arrau (Philips; 1962-1966) Sviatoslav Richter (Philips and Melodiya; incomplete, 1963-1992) Wilhelm Kempff (DG; 1964-1965) Friedrich Gulda (Amadeo; 1967) Claude Frank (RCA; 1967-1969) Éric Heidsieck (EMI; 1967-1973) Bruce Hungerford (Piano Classics; incomplete, 1967-1976) Alfred Brendel (Philips; 1971-1978) Emil Gilels (DG; incomplete, 1972-1985) Vladimir Ashkenazy (Decca; 1974-1982) Maurizio Pollini (DG; 1975-2014) Annie Fischer (Hungaroton, 1977-1978) Rudolf Buchbinder (Teldec; 1980-1982) Claudio Arrau (Philips; incomplete, 1984-1990) Stephen Kovacevich (EMI; 1991-2003) Alfred Brendel (Philips; 1992-1996) Richard Goode (Nonesuch; early 1990s) Andrea Lucchesini (Stradivarius; 1999-2001) Ronald Brautigam (BIS; 2003-2008) András Schiff (ECM; 2004-2006) Daniel Barenboim (Decca; 2005) Paul Lewis (Harmonia Mundi; 2005-2008) Jean-Efflam Bavouzet (Chandos; 2008-2014) François-Frédéric Guy (Zig-Zag Territoires; 2009-2012) Stewart Goodyear (Marquis; 2010-2012) Igor Levit (Sony; 2013, 2017-2019) Konstantin Lifschitz (2017-2019) Wilhelm Kempff made his first recording of Op.110 in 1936, but I assume you mean his 1951 recording.

Interesting project indeed. I have more than 30 cycles, most of them complete and some incomplete, but I can't name any favourites - it all depends on the sonata, and the mood I'm in also plays a part.

My USPS Int'l Priority Mail package from Colorado finally arrived today, after more than 4 weeks... I agree. I got several packages that only took a couple of days to get here via DHL - all within the EU.

I don't think anything is lost, just indefinitely delayed, especially packages that are shipped internationally. One shipment can get lost, maybe two, but so many, unlikely. I still think the air traffic problems are to blame. A package from Sweden that usually takes a few days recently took three weeks to arrive at my doorstep, and that's within the EU.

Just heard about this. Very sad news. Another one gone, loved his playing.

Still waiting for that package... No tracking update since April 28.

This is really sad news. He was one of my favourite French actors.

Just sent you a PM.

The Blues/R&B sets were the ones by T-Bone Walker, Amos Milburn, Charles Brown and Otis Spann/Lightning Hopkins. Great sets, love them.

I'm still waiting for a package that was mailed by int'l priority mail from Colorado on April 24. It seems to be stuck at a USPS depot in San Francisco. No idea when it will get here, as there's hardly any transatlantic air traffic right now.

I wonder what the rates (dollar/euro/pound) will be at the end of the year, with the corona effects on the global economy...

Which US releases are you looking for? There were several CD reissue series (early McMasters from the 1980s and early 1990s, RVGs, later McMasters). I didn't check which ones were issued in which series.

Sad news. He's one of my favourites on the instrument.

This is very sad news. Met him once. One of the great alto saxophonists.

I posted that list 15 years ago and in the meantime some of thiose albums have been reissued by Fresh Sound, but might be OOP by now.

Sad news. According to his profile he was 87, a respectable age.

You're right, totally forgot about that third Hip-O set. Never got it, the material is not my cup of tea. The 1950s were Berry's prime years; the decline set in during the following decade, although he made a few fine recordings in the early 1960s.

Agreed.

A contact of mine in the 1970s was a big Pizzarelli fan. Sad news.

Another one of the "old guard" gone... Sad news.

Universal also released You Never Can Tell: His Complete Chess Recordings 1960-1966 on their (now discontinued) Hip-O label. I have both sets, but don't like the sound very much, it's also too "sanitized" as you call it.

I knew he was severely ill, so it's not totally unexpected, but still very sad news. I love his early albums, got the self-titled when it came out in 1971 and couldn't stop playing it. I'll miss him.

Very sad indeed and way too young, he would have turned 60 next month.

I wonder how American tourists will cope...

My buying and selling days with people outside the EU are long gone, not in the least because of the ridiculous overseas shipping rates these days.