Christmas 2017

It's usual on this blog to write something around Christmas here because it for one thing it's a major childhood memory, it's almost as big on my age regressed side having that Christmas Eve anxiety at night thinking what I may be having and finally its two whole different days. A heady mixture, what?

I'm home with Mummy and Daddy and I can smell the Turkey cooking ready for Lunch as we visit our neighbours and having just opened my presents.

Fun that was a direct re-run from my actual childhood came from this annual with adventures from Dennis the Menace, Minnie the Mix and the Bash Street Kids plus a special annual of the Dandy featuring such favourites as Korky the kat, Desperate Dan and Beryl the Peril.

I had some money from Mum, one brother that were put toward some compact discs and a HMV voucher.

Although the whole relationship between me, scouting in general and gender is messy one, one thing I had a Brownies annual from a few years back with a very inclusive cover and I think today's brownies is really more what I'd of loved.

As strange as it might sound finding a recording on sacd of either Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture or Romeo and Juliet is difficult as much as you might of thought hifi people might of seen that as a demonstration title.

I had this disc which has Romeo and Juliet plus Orchestral extracts from The Snow Maiden coupled with a recording of his First Symphony by the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra by the much talked about conductor, Neeme Jarvi plus a sacd set of Sibelius Symphonies and Chopin Preludes.

As well I had a scarf and blu rays of Back To The Future  together with the Karate Kid which were two of my favourite movies from the 80's as I slowly replace a few by the better looking blu ray versions.
I hope you had a super day with your gifts and toys but also with company too.

Bach and the Cello

 Bach was mentioned in the early history of the blog during the period I established a modest selection of his more important compositions and replacing one cd whose conducting lead the playing  seeming more suited to F1 than sedate chamber music!

I am very fond of the Cello as an instrument and so had been looking at getting a recording of his Six Cello Suites when I spotted this which originally came out as three lps and cds in 1985 and to which this is the latest edition with two very well filled cds taking in all three discs worth which came out in 2015.

Maisky's performances have real character holding your attention.

It is interesting to note that would set you back around GBP £40 new in 1985/6 and I managed to get this two cd edition for exactly GBP £4.16 new including delivery!

The real me

 

Here at The Feminine Gurl I've been rather busy dealing with the Blogsphere tm of this is one of a few in this family of blogs that go back to the mid 2000's that deal with different aspects of my life overlapping a little but with main focus which so reminds me of school Venn Diagrams that one was to draw neatly or be suitably admonished.

In some ways then it's perhaps for the best this family blog member is fairly recent as all the 'baby steps' in blogging happened before and had been learned from so the same mistakes had not been repeated.

An often repeated comment I hear at various sites that sadly I'm less able than I'd like due to my physical disabilities to message is around the extent in a world where people do cultivate an image of themselves and their abilities to the point when one interacts with them either messaging or face to face even there's a gap between what you read and what you see with me I'm very much the same on any site, any kind of 'chat' and  when I've been privileged to spend time face to face with people for extended periods.

The word that comes to mind is "Authenticity", the extent to which one is true to yourself in harmony with your own spirit while respecting rules and social conventions that make life frictionless as we all know what to expect.

Thus while on one blog I do write around the joy of the resumption of the Scouting ethos, another more of joys of littles age dysphoric life including hobbies and interests neither denies what the other centred on and where all is intertwined, the one whole me.

What I write about is what I feel, what I have experienced and actually know routed in my life albeit my education, employment and learning more about coping with my actual needs rather than what may know second hand or the views of those who write about what they have read.

The one thing towering over all is a childhood that was very much routed in being in an actual boarding school for much of my education which went beyond of curriculum subjects but in moral character building and standards and one that understood you learn through consequences, believing strongly in disciplining you very much for ones own good.

What I have to say around this and as it applies in particular to corporal punishment  is very much from having received it 'in loco parentis' several times each deserved and from that how that changed for the better those attitudes and behaviours first hand rather than any kind of role playing fantasy.

I know it works well with me as it did with most of my peers at the time not just in nipping our behaviour in the bud but also of deterrence of the class,  year group and ultimately whole school from acting on such impulses.

The benefits in terms of being able to study, to have your teacher just come in and start the lesson and carry on with everyone engaged rather than endless low level disruption might surprise present generations!

It is that I suspect the last person who commented picked up on in the broader sense in that I am the product of such an education and it shows in my work.

Thank you for your compliment.

Redux

Sometimes it can seem with this life you can easily end up a load of clothes that don't slot into the non-littles world but with a bit of care you can find ways around of this.

First off and subject to some delays with the Royal Mail is a maroon sweatshirt with a rounded top which was available from a well know ebay school wear supplier even in 'adult' sizes although it is school wear and is clearly  branded on the tab inside as such.

It can easily be worn with black or beige short trousers or a slightly more adult skirt outside of being a part of uniform with no one being the wiser.

One reason for buying was I have a few sweatshirts in need of replacement and I do wish to merge my wardrobe.

This wine coloured pleated skirt has a similar story being also from a school wear supplier but isn't so far removed from what you may wear in some working environments being supplied by work wear companies for offices except where girls may of worn knee length socks, adults generally would wear hose (Brit speak: Tights) usually with plain blouse.

Putting the two together and adding the long socks either white or grey makes for a school/college uniform for when I'm at home or away with friends.

Hurrah for the circus

There are things you may have and do feel like revisiting such as books you had for an awful long time and today I'm writing about one.

 I think the first thing to said is this was written in 1939 when people did really look forward to seeing a circus with animals and the understanding of how captivity impacts their lives was less understood than today where it is rare to see such an old-fashioned circus because we are that more enlightened. 

This is the second of the three stories centred around Galliano's Circus looking circus life for children where it is Easter and they are all at Westsea although they are due to move on to Liverpool which I'd presume is some way off as it is probably Westsea is either around Somerset or Devon, areas popular for holidays in the UK.

The story is told through the eyes of Jimmy and Lotta circus children where much excitement is caused by the arrival of tigers to join the circus who are kept in a double locked cage.

Jimmy is very much in awe of the tigers and is determined to snuck into them and befriend them from what he sees as their ill treatment while being trained by Fric and his father which he does learning to control them by body language and words.

In some ways this is a high point of the book because in modern english he's being like a 'horse whisperer' gaining their trust and co-operation without the use of whips and shouting at them.

The friendship between Jimmy and Lotta is under threat of being torn about by Fric, the tiger keepers son and helping hand who is spiteful and not averse to telling lies  which given it is 1939 would be said to benefit from a smack.

Just as they are able to patch up their friendship, Jimmy's beloved dog, Lucky suddenly goes missing that leads to Lotta going out on a daring mission to rescue him who had been dyed after being sold for five pounds by Fric to a crooked, shady circus man called Mr. Cyrano to use. 

She does this by getting her curly hair cut, buying a shirt and pair of boy shorts and impersonates a  boy to confuse everyone so she's able to rescue Lucky.

As a reward Mr Galliano gets her a black pony that she calls Black Beauty after the Anna Sewell novel no doubt that she learns to ride and perform circus tricks with that are incorporated into their Liverpool show.

Just as everything seems to be going so well Lotta discovers Lal, her mother is ill in hospital in Europe where they've been performing with horses and dogs and The little girl's father, Laddo, may have to go away to another circus because he needs a partner in his act.

As is often the case in Enid Blyton's writing she leaves how this pans out until the next book but we are left pondering just what will happen to Lotta and if she might have to leave this circus and everybody including Jimmy for another.

It's very much a rip-roaring tale that I enjoyed re-reading from my original 1973 Deans hardback edition even if today much of the background to the plot simply would no longer be permitted. 

Reflections on the death of David Cassidy

It was announced to-day, the child actor and singer, David Cassidy died from complications following hospitalization late last weekend

He played the role of Keith Partridge  a teen boy of the touring headed by their Mother who was played by Shirley Jones in the must see tv series of the early 1970's that we all watched and talked about as juniors back then. Indeed I had to go visit friends as we weren't allowed at home to watch commercial tv in order to see the show on the pretext it was a play date.

The series was massive in North America and given its construct being but a few years on from The Monkees, the series gave birth to hit 45's and albums which are still adored by many of our generation as terrific pop songs.

David left the show pursuing a career in popular music having a good number of hit 45's and albums of which this, Daydreamer from the Dreams Are Nuthin' More Than Wishes album was a favourite of mine from 1973

Like a number of artists of this era following a change in music tastes he took time out before resuming in 1985 with the  Romance album  issued by Arista and resuming concert tours. It was sad he had to give up performing in 2014 due to dementia.

David was a part of our lives as kids back then the adorable boy next door who could sing and act whose life we followed in Jackie magazine and elsewhere.

Let's be glad for what he gave us and for the opportunities he was able to take advantage of furthering his craft.
Rest in peace, David.

Tchaikovsky on sacd and some

This months entry on the collection of new Super Audio cd's abbreviated to sacd is a bit different to the first two in that they all have one thing in common.

One of the first composers I encountered was Tchaikovsky when I was a child so it wasn't so long that on record I did buy a few recordings which in time made their way to compact discs with the last major addition being the adding of the Andre Previn set of the complete ballet scores on EMI that I used to borrow on record.

One thing I had decided early on was in so far as new recordings went the priority was going to those in Super Audio cd and a good modern set of his symphonies  was the first .

 The first three symphonies are it has to be said something of a challenge to play in way that makes much sense of the score as in all honesty Tchaikovsky was very much feeling his way composition-wise but Valery Gergiev's interpretation does bring more out of these than many as much as I like my original disc on DG of Claudio Abbado's recording of the second coupled with the fourth. I also managed to get this two sacd set for £7.99 which was a absolute bargain!

 I was raised very much on Herbert von Karajan's recordings of the Fifth symphony firstly in mono with the Philharmonia Orchestra and then his 1960's stereo for DG but wanted something more modern and this just fits the bill being in similar style and highly acclaimed. 

I have a recording of Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto coupled with Mendelssohn's by Nathaniel Milstein but this one by the much talked about Julia Fisher is one recent recording many feel brings more from it from a slightly different edition of the score.

 This recent recording combines one work I lacked but did like, the Souvenir de Florence with an arresting very well recorded account of the Serenade for Strings, one of the most well known string compositions.

 In 1996 I bought a most remarkable recording of Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto by a young Manchester pianist called Ronan O'Hora which part of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra's very on collection of complete works from the NOW shop in Stoke on Trent.

Like most of that series it was recorded at a higher than regular cd standard and altered to fit regular cd but in 2005 it was issued on Super Audio cd and the above sacd is that version which I bought for this upgrading of my music collection to this format.

In addition to a previous regular cd addition of such familiar tunes as the March Slav, the 1812 Overture etc on Tchaikovsky Festival on Naxos effectively replaced technically so-so recordings I had previously, this has now given me a pretty decent sounding set of recordings of his music.

Maturing Tammy

 

One of the things I do struggle with is face to face interaction not least opening up a conversation with people cos I get so super nervous I just freeze over or not have the conversation I had intended in my head.

So it was actually pretty good I managed to start one with my second best friend this weekend talking to her about her life, her studying animation while listening and even making eye contact with is something I've had feedback on before now as I find that...so oppressive ordinarily.

Like I can recall this being brought up in a staff review looking at client interaction several years back in what was generally a excellent review as a potential barrier to communication.

I also found the work I have being doing over the last five weeks or so on putting together a PT routine for me paid of well but with unlike last time being able to get across the from the rail station to a bus interchange without getting out of breath propelling my wheeled suitcase and bags and also while i have difficulty with steps and uneven surfaces I was able to keep up with the group as we walked through woodland and canal tow paths for a good mile or so to where we were eating without breaking out into a deep sweat or struggling at the back.

That for me is really good going. 

The weekend went very well overall like  I mean no one found good reason to spank me which is reassuring cos it never was a role playing or sensual game thing with me and more to the point the people I'm with not least those in 'grown up' capacities to me  truly understand and ensure my my vulnerabilities are never taken advantage of. 

When that gap is what it is sometimes I do feel it was so much more easier when I was in my teens cos at least those very same issues and needs would be protected and moreover nobody would 'assume' I had a developmental level I don't whereas now they do because they are working with adult norms which just don't apply. So in a way I'm very fortunate they meet my needs and respect my limits, saying that to one made me tearful to tell you the truth.

I also did co-operate fully, helping out with preparing the evening meal two other guests consumed on the Friday and baking the sponge cake for the Party without a murmur of discontent even when I had to make another sponge as one of my haves didn't quite take in the oven.

Changing my attitudes around looking after my needs and also contributing, being expected  help out has not been easy given my past but with a lot of encourage to help and the preparedness of people to strictly discipline me over it, I am starting to develop more of a sense of self discipline to help me be more mature in that way even with the oh so real limitations in other respects.

I did great this weekend.

Working on presentation

 

Not much left of the old year now with halloween and that gone and temperatures dropping a little which you notice if you are out a fair bit as I am, working on my fitness which has never been exactly great

Somethings don't change though

Feminine sissy gurls really need to embrace soft satin knickers with lace which need not be particularly wide to really take us out of cotton "y front" briefs and everything associated with them especially when we are in skirts and dresses.

Ideally they should be binned.

These are some I wear that also come with a small pretty bow on the waist band.

Age Dysphoria works its way into things with me such as presenting more as junior child than any adult so things that fit into it are clip on ties if dressing more as them at a social function or as a school child is a part of it.

That cuts across both traditional masculine gender presentation with shirts and grey school short trousers as much as pinafore dresses or skirts with blouses.

Aaron Copland redux

For as long as I recall classical music played a major part in my life from handed down records, broadcasts listened to an concerts attended that over the decades has lead to collection of favourites by various composers.

Parts of this have been mentioned on this blog over the years as I moved from buying performances on lp records and cassettes to now standard Compact Disc and High Definition download

Chunks of my collection are in one respect time periods where I picked what I could as my interests were piqued remaining without being reassessed in the light of newer recordings and improved mastering of older ones.

Aaron Copland is one of America's greatest composers, period, someone who had the art of getting a lot in without losing touch with American home spun idioms and relative simplicity.

It was around Nineteen-Ninety that got to hear across a weekday broadcasting slot the majority of his compositions in an excellent BBC Radio Three "This Mornings Composer" series of programs much of which served as my 'template' for collecting recordings of them around that era.

The mainstays in that era were Copland's own recordings for Columbia (now Sony Classical) records that in 1991 were compiled into three cd box sets.

I bought two at the time as they had the bulk of the works I wanted even if the early sixties sound left a little to be desired but that other set sounded poor so I never got it or its content

Following getting the Super Audio Player  I started this process of reassessment as its reproduction of regular cds  exceeded my previous players looking replacing by better sounding and sometimes played versions of which last months Mozart entry was one example.

There precious few recordings of Copland's Clarinet concerto or of Dance Panels and I had formed the view for my purposes, the two Sony Classical boxes I bought in the early nineteen-nineties would benefit from being replaced and this would be a good start point adding two works and replacing my original of 1925's "Music for the Theatre"

Leonard Slatkin is one the best leading conductors and advocates of Copland's music and he recorded for RCA a series of works featuring the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra well compiled of which this adds the not often heard Organ Symphony with Simon Preston and two other symphonies in modern wide ranging digital sound.

Copland mastered the art of writing film music that both didn't get in the way of the screen action and equally wasn't just soundtrack fodder, capable of being appreciated in its own right.

This disc featured the Red Pony, Music for Movies a arrangement of film music in the forms of a suite, Our Town and seldom recorded Prairie Journal (Music for Radio)which was broadcast on the radio.

This disc featured his Third Symphony and Music for a Great City which benefits from a modern recording.

Naxos had an excellent series of discs covering American Composers and I own most of the Samuel Barber titles but this one appealed as these main two works were in the third box I never bought although I've always loved The Tender Land suite written around life on a Southern Farm during the nineteen-thirties, his Piano Concerto and two collections of American Songs originally intended for piano and voice but transcribed here for orchestra and chorus.

I just love singing along to "I Bought Me a Cat".

A batch of Classical Super Audio cds

We are cycling towards the end of the month so I thought I'd post an update on my collection of classical music Super Audio cds which all can be played on regular cd players too.

One thing you have to recognize is because the format is so much capable of more natural sound doesn't mean you'll ditch any or all your existing recordings as there always two elements involved: the performance and the sound.

Ever since the days of the lp record that elusive balance of the two is what as collectors of recordings we've looking for and there exists from those early mono taped performances from the early nineteen-fifties to the turn of this decade many excellent performances that may not be on sacd and some where for technical reasons they may be little point in issuing them.

This said there are increasing numbers of  excellent recordings from the analogue tape era being freshly mastered and new recordings critically acclaimed so you may be able to 'upgrade' which is where we start.

For a good while I had been looking for a great fairly modern recording of Bartok's ground breaking Concerto For Orchestra which I remember well as a handed down Mercury mono lp record when I was in my early teens where I spied this.

It's reissue of the original Quadraphonic (surround sound) lps from the Deutsche Grammophon catalogue of the nineteen-seventies that only got issued in Japan but whose stereo mixes were issued in North America and Europe that were much admired.

 Arriving only toward the end of last week is a acclaimed recording of Schubert's String Quintet in C Major D 956 from 2011 by the much loved Tokyo String Quartet who have performed in North America and Europe.

Schubert's "The Trout" quintet has been a favourite of mine for a long while and recently I bought this excellent modern recording which will go with my regular cd sets of string quartets and symphonies by him.

This one can be filed under 'filling a hole' as in the years of building my classical music collection I hadn't gotten around to getting a complete set of Beethoven's String Quartets and this set of recordings from 2005 through 2008 is one of the best recorded.

I was able to get this 8 sacd set in stone mint condition used for half the regular price which made it quite bargain.

Mozart and I got back a long time, to the period I often borrowed pre-recorded tapes from the municipal library and most of my Mozart collection goes back to around 1991 on cd buying the many discs in the Mozart Masterpieces set.

Included in that was the debut recording of a then 14 year old Anne-Sophie Mutter with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra with its then larger than life conductor, Herbert von Karajan of the 3rd and 5th Violin Concertos to which I had added two slightly later recordings on EMI by her of numbers 1, 2 and 4.

This set recorded in 2011 by PentaTone records is widely regarded as one of the finest coming with the very best sound available and even features a dvd where you see Julia rehearsing.
x

"This is what you need!"

 

When you aren't as able as most, you are more dependent on other people for things or completing them which isn't just an irritant that can cause you to lash out in frustration in itself but also a cause of tension between you.

What isn't said I think needs to be is inevitably it does alter the relating dynamic by virtue they have what you need and can't do that they can use as lever and equally you may feel you have leverage because they're your means of getting something done so it is easy to form an abusive relating pattern.

But it's not just that it's also how that person slots into the role helping you realize the idea you had that can become a point of contention too.

Speaking as a person whose always been disabled, our normal expectation is in discussing it with someone, they work with us to do it the way we wish unless that's not possible in which instance we'd expect them to talk though other suggestions reaching agreement on the way forward.

What can happen though is the person runs with what they feel is what you need, taking control not just of the help but also of the very idea itself imposing their ideas in place of yours  then threatening to walk off leaving with an uncompleted job if you even question such attitude as the one looking for help.

It's as if at that point you just became invisible no longer permitted to have any say about some things in your lives and that easily leads to tensions that others soon pick up on.

I think if you spot this early on you need to bring this up as it can easily cause issues.

A little rant

 

I don't know how others feel but I am tired of hearing boys can't do this or wear that.

  Boys can too wear dresses and skirts.

  Boys can too wear panties and slips.

  Boys can too be allowed to express their feelings.

Today Girls are allowed to do all of the above and they are allowed to dress completely as boys, ie pants, shirts, and boxers yet still today boys are discriminated against if they wish to wear a dress or skirt.  

The boys who do are called a whole host of names that are not only degrading to the boys but females as well. IT is like being a girl is something that should be considered less then their male counterparts. 

Just like the "N" word for blacks is no longer in dictionaries the term "SISSY"* or "FAG" should be taken out of the dictionaries.  

To me WE need to make the use of what a gender wears not be included as to that person but see him or her as another human who just has and expresses their gender in a way that makes sense to them.

* Sissy as an insult should be removed, sissy gurl as a gender idenity being too feminine for a girl and insufficient masculine by a wide margin to be any kind of boy I feel should stay.

The needs of littles III

The other week I was mulling over some of things that did crop up at ASB.org, not that sadly that site lasted long, and that generally I tended to talk more in and around the role of age regression within being an adult schoolboy as from my vantage point being one comes from being in the headspace of being a adult little, legally an adult emotionally and psychologically very much a child of your own childhood era.

One piece of the jigsaw puzzle is how psychologically you get to being in that frame of mind and what it is that is in there and one topic that often raised its head was spanking which usually is seen as both sexual or kink centric but for some goes back into their childhood emotions and so forms a part of being in a psychological state of being a "little boy" or "little girl" again

The Benefits of Getting Spanked by Rodney Calmes

Many people believe that if someone likes to get spanked, it is all sexual. That is not the case all the time. Even though getting spanked has some sexual effects or enhances sexual arousal, there are many non-sexual benefits from getting spanked. What can spankings do for you?

1. Getting spanked relieves stress.

2. Getting spanked is calming.

3. Getting spanked generates endorphins and puts you in a euphoric state.

4. Getting spanked generates adrenaline and gives an adrenaline rush, especially if you are anticipating getting a very harsh one.

5. Getting spanked lifts moods. Russian psychiatrists have found success in treating depression with bare butt whippings.

6. The marks left from getting spanked is like an art of its own.

7. For some, it can restore feelings of youth.

Don’t be ashamed of getting spanked, enjoy it! For those who never tried it in your adult years, give it a try. You never know, you may like it.

There have been times when personally I have struggled with spanking as an element of being that adult little not least in website and on social media it's tended to dominate all discussion to the exclusion of look at the how and why we feel still "little children" even though the law says we're adults.

That text emboldened however did set out clearly a lot of the elements for and of what I get from being spanked in an adult little sissy gurl context starting from the very child-like, child-minded side of me needing discipline, direction and correction as I have little 'native' adult or even older child sense of self including self discipline.

The whole context of being subject to spanking, being 'made' to take it at the will of a 'adult authority figure' and the emotional outcome from given a good spanking restores a strong sense of being that little, of being young.

Spanking given some of my issues  around relating to people, understanding appropriate boundaries forms stronger bonds with me especially between myself and adults. I am wired very much toward physicality helps with bonding.

While it is entirely understandable a adult little who was abused in actual childhood would not and may even be could never accept the role of spanking within such relationships or through other outlets such as age play schools and the like, for me it's a core part, the mirror image of how it was to me as a boy back then.

As a sissy gurl I want dominants to spank my bottom.

Thoughts around learning

 There's nothing quite so stereotypical British as national panics best talked over tea and a common one is around educational standards although it could be argued part of this reflects the debate around learning and retaining facts over looking things up and following a process.

My feelings are more that you do need a knowledge base so you know  8 x 8 is 64 and The Great Fire of London did take place in 1666 so you can both know off the bat if something is 'wrong' and work efficiently. It is hard to progress when you haven't mastered the basics as like a good number of dyslexic people I know only to well which was a reason I ended up resuming studying a while ago.

Much of this chart from a UK national newspaper is familiar in that what I was expected in my class when I was educated strongly aligned with that common during in the 1950's and following reforms, changed.  My feeling is what happened has been less is required to be known and over a longer period which shows up when international comparisons are made.

It's hard to believe that in that time children are less capable of learning even if we are more enlightened around the things that can making learning more harder for some and prepared to assist more.

It may be how we teach that needs to be addressed apart from having the kind of classroom I had when the teacher just walked in with the texts needed, you got up to greet them and from that point on you were expected to sit still and pay attention rather than dealing with messing about with cellphones and the like.

Mozart Masterworks 1991 revisited

In 1991, to mark the 200th anniversary of the death of Mozart, the record label Deutsche  Grammophon at the time one of the leading labels issuing classical music, instituted a 25 compact disc series entitled Mozart Masterpieces that picked what they regarded as the most essential Mozart compositions in performances they regarded as being desirable all in what was a budget price which from recollection was around £5.49 per disc available separately or as a complete set. 

When compact discs first came out typically we paid £12.99 or more  and by around 1987 mid price discs often more generous when it came to content when it came to classical ones came out around the £7.50-7.99 mark so to have all these recordings at a low unit price really was a bargain for someone who only had a few recordings and many of them on tape or record.

There were however a few for various reasons I didn't get such as the recording of Symphonies 40 and 41 by the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Claudio Abbado that it was generally scarcely skated the surface of what was in the score to which I bought the mid 60's recordings by the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra  conducted by Karl Bohm instead and there was this one that I had the 1976 Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra recording by Karl Bohm I bought in July 1987 when it came out on the new Deutsche Grammophon "Galleria" series  with the Posthorn Serenade.

I thought it was time to revisit this series that was the core of Mozart collection and track down a copy for the 1960's recordings the Berlin Philharmonic did of this and two other works under the larger than life conductor Herbert von Karajan.

That copy of Bohm's conducting Symphony No.31,40  and 41 on DG "Privilege" was the first I replaced.

Part of the reason was I added the nineties DG "Galleria" of symphonies 25, 29 and 31 was to expand the range of symphony recordings  which did bring about duplication with symphony 31  and this double cd is not only remastered for better sound but adds symphonies 35, 36, 38 and 39 as the original Mozart Masterpieces cd DG 429 802-2 with symphonies 38 and 39 conducted by Herbert von Karajan had gone missing.

This took in his recordings of the late symphonies in their entirety that many hold to be superior to his nineteen eighties digital remakes with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra.

I did buy the Melos performed String Quartets disc but I bought later on a 6 cd set of the main String Quartets performed by the Amadeus Quartet at which point this single disc disappeared for some reason or other so I've picked up a replacement so I can enjoy their account of these two works.

This disc played by Pollini was in the set I bought as DG 429 812-2 with a rather generic embossed Mozart head on a piano image using the cd stampers of the mid to late 1980's cd issue but was re-remastered in 2011 in DG's "The Originals" series.

The remaster has given it a smoother less harsh sound that also feels more full and spacious than the original so has replaced it.

As well, it restores the original 1976 lp front cover which is much more attractive as art to look at featuring conductor,pianist and orchestra. 

Also included in the series was Géza Anda's recordings of his Piano Concertos 19 and 26 which for some reason I never bought although I did get a different recording of no 27 than the one in  this cd set which were from a complete series of them that currently are in a 8 cd set that I hope to get at some point being one the finest ever issued.

While the cover on my copy has the label "Privilege" not "Resonance" in the same font) it is from the very same stamper used for it so it is technically identical.

This was the 8 cd set that eventually I bought remastered compared with the early single cd for more firmer sound. It's just a pity copies of the original lp front covers were not included in the booklet.

This series was the first one I followed rather had bought for me, providing an opportunity to replace a number of works I had on much played records and tapes, making available what had in some instances been full price discs cheaply such as the Berlin Philharmonic, Anne-Sophie Mutter recordings of the 3rd and 5th violin  concertos and the first time some recordings previously issued on tape and lp record came out on cd.

Revisiting it, playing some of the original purchases and these others I missed  brings back many happy memories that lead to the establishment of considerable collection of favourite works by many composers on compact disc and its higher quality form, the super audio cd.

As well I did get a complete set of recording of Mozart's violin sonatas that originally came out as separate cds at this time cheaply comprising of excellent all digital recordings to go alongside the collection.