Terry:  Caught your note about the new Philips "Great Recordings"
series in MMD 990126.  I am part-time announcer at WCLV, the classical
music station in Cleveland, OH.  We have received about 40 of what the
company has released.  It will be packaged as 100 2-CD sets, rather
than the 200 sets you mention.

They are well done and quite professional.  The transfers are adequate,
but not outstanding.  The discs, by the way are leased from all the
"biggies": BMG/RCA, Sony, DG, London (Decca), Philips, of course and
smaller companies where that is all there is/was of a given artist.
A lot of the material issued is still in print with the producing
company.  Example:  Dinu Lipatti:  EMI keeps all his stuff available
in one way or another.  But the main problem -- for those of us of an
age who are familiar with the recorded legacy of the "millenial
performers" -- is selection.

There are also small errors or omissions.  For example, in the discs
devoted to Julius Katchen, one of the great Brahms interpreters, his
performance of Brahms' Hungarian Dances happens to be four-hands with
a French artist, Jean-Pierre Marty.  Nowhere is it indicated that the
selection other than for solo piano (there are transcriptions for same,
as you probably know), nor is M. Marty given label credit.

Still, it's nice to have the old RCA 78's of Josef Lhevinne, and
the Deutsch Grammophon LP of Clara Haskil playing the Mozart 13th Piano
Concerto, etc.  As for the majors -- Rubinstein, Horowitz, Serkin,
et al -- they're represented, but with the choices of the _producers_,
and are _not_ necessarily the recordings posterity deems most valuable
... Or so it seems to me.

I'm told there is a "sampler", by the way, available as a 2-CD set, and
you can obtain the booklet describing the complete release from
Philips.

Hope this information is of some use.

Albert M. Petrak, Founder
Reproducing Piano Roll Foundation

P.S.  I'd say, select carefully, if you're interested.