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Tower Records IIRC

Thanks, and of course you're correct - but I'm happy to note that my memory actually is 50% intact, according to this response from "Copilot" about a Virgin store in Piccadilly:

The store sat at 1 Piccadilly (Mayfair), just steps from Piccadilly Circus station. It sold the full range of Virgin's media offerings: CDs, vinyl, videos, games, and more — the classic Megastore experience.
The location is now closed, consistent with the broader shutdown of UK Virgin Megastores after the chain was sold and rebranded as Zavvi in 2007.
So if you remember walking out of Tower Records and heading a short distance to another giant music shop — you're remembering correctly. Piccadilly Circus was once one of the densest music‑retail hubs in London, with Tower Records, Virgin Megastore, and HMV on Oxford Street all within easy reach.

And what was the big, glitzy one in Piccadilly Circus?  Was it Virgin Records?

Is the physical CD available?  Cannot locate it presently.

I am able to offer you the email address for the head of the Archives & Special Collections Division of the Vassar libraries:  His name is Ron Patkus, patkus@vassar.edu

Any opinions on the Furtwängler/VPO Second on Orfeo?

Depends whether you want modern sound...

If you're starting from scratch, I'd strongly advise searching out Barenboim which is as good as it gets - and is in superb sound.

Hardly starting from scratch.  I've lived with this recording and never have considered an alternative.  I simply was interested in other opinions.

Any opinions on the Furtwängler/VPO Second on Orfeo?

Well, some of it, more or less, is here: 

What may be said of the Rasilainen/Norwegian Radio O set on Finlandia?  It's served me well and therefore no desire to replace it.

Interesting - this is an 85-minute CD.

Is that a record length?  (excuse the unintended pun)

Thanks, one and all.  Those positive reviews are tempting me to break with tradition and move the CD to the top of my unlistened-to stack.

I do agree about Reinecke's music in general.  Lots of it on my shelves, going all the way back to that Genesis CD of his piano concertos, by Gerald Robbins, with the Monte Carlo Opera Orchestra/Van Remoortel.

Well, thank you for that.  High praise, indeed - and I'll look forward to helping expose them!

I won this on eBay for a couple of US bucks, to fill in my Reinecke collection.  I've heard only snippets of the works.  Does anyone know them? Comments? 

Clarinet Trio in A Major Op.264
Fantasiestücke Op.22
Clarinet Sonata "Undine" Op.167bis
Introduction and Allegro appassionato Op.256

It's also the price you pay to get repertoire like Alfano. It's not as if they're putting out Beethoven symphonies with the Back of Beyond Philharmonic...

Indeed, and I'm not complaining, mind you.  Just taking note of facts.

The breadth of their catalog is inspiring and I've been introduced to so many, for me, formerly unknown composers on whose music I've taken a chance and have become a fan.  More power to Naxos - at any price!

Anyway - sorry to change the subject. 

Naxos' rise from bargain basement to the penthouse has outpaced inflation.  So it goes.

But you're right - or, perhaps, "somebody" is right.  When I scan my CD shelves, I see tons of Naxos spines looking back at me.  Tomorrow, the world...

I've been a collector of recordings of Alfano's music.  Naxos seems to have a thing for him.

But, parenthetically, what the heck has happened to the prices on Naxos CDs? Amazon now wants upwards of US$20 or so. A bit lower on the Amazon UK, but shipping cost wipes out the difference.

Our once and future "budget" label has made it to the big time!