June 2003 Gramophone

Eyes and hands. Are you sure you really mean 'June,' though? The June issue (with the Previn-Mutters) on the cover has already come and gone. The July issue (Vengerov cover) is on the stands here at present. (I'm in the US as well.)

By the way, for Verdi fans who may not be in the habit of reading The Gram regularly: John Steane's piece on _Luisa Miller_ in that July issue is really good. It's ostensibly a survey of the available recordings (for Steane, Maag/Caballé/Decca 'wins', but he has some intriguing things to say about the opera itself and its place in the canon (he rates it higher than I might, but...), and since there are not so many recordings of this opera, he's able to be thorough and probing in his evaluation of the extant ones.

I haven't seen Gramophone on the magazine racks since the one with MTT on the cover. I think something has gone sour with their distribution, at least with the chain bookstores.

You know, now that you mention it, the MTT issue was the last one I remember seeing at the Barnes & Noble in my town. It stands out because I thumbed through it and decided to buy it when I saw the Scotto article, and I remember being at B&N that day. Fortunately, I also frequent a good independent bookstore that carries it, and has had the two subsequent issues (Previn/Mutter and Vengerov, respectively).