BBC Music Magazine
Performance ****
Recording ***

This very cheaply priced and wee-packaged set shows what the London Mozart Players (LMP) were like in the years before they had competition, so far as chamber orchestras went. Many distinguished soloists played in the LMP, though unfortunately no list is provided here. These recordings, made in the late 1950s, mostly in ‘experimental stereo’, show not only how alert a body it was, but also what comparatively advanced Mozart style of the period was like.
There are no very slow tempos, nor, for that matter, any very fast ones. In some cases, such as the Jupiter Symphony, that can lead to a hint of characterlessness, even when individual instrument contributions are lively and fresh. Harry Blech, the founder and for many years the chief conductor of the LMP, didn’t apparently, favour crisp articulation, so there are smudgy passages, and in the incredible contrapuntal flights of the last movement of this work one can’t hear as much detail as one would like. Also, there are no repeats, here or anywhere, except in minuets.
Still, it’s a fascinating choice of works, with the remarkable Symphony by Arriaga, one of the two most precocious talents in the history of composition, who died at 20, given a spirited account. Mozart’s great Posthorn Serenade, a puzzlingly neglected masterpiece nowadays, also comes up full of charm and inventiveness. The Two-Piano Concerto in E flat, K365, is routine. But the Haydn symphony which concludes the set, one of his greatest, is winningly played and interpreted.
The sound is never less than decent, though the high strings sometimes sound thin and vinegary

Reviewed by: Michael Tanner

 

Audiophile Audition - December 2009 *****

Something special: the complete stereo and mono recordings from Harry Blech (1910-1999) and his London Mozart Players, personally selected by Blech in 1949 for an association that lasted until 1984. At various points both Dennis Brain and Barry Tuckwell served in the French horn section, and Archie Camden and Sidney Sutcliffe performed among the woodwinds, with Robert Masters and Max Saltpeter acting as concertmaster. Aspiring to a euphonious, balanced sound, Blech managed to imbue a consistent, articulate clarity to his readings, forever stylish. The tapes from which these sterling performances derive came from Abbey Road Studio No. 1 sessions 1955-1957. [The original EMI early stereo source tapes had lain undisturbed for over 50 years before this reissue set. EMI, RCA and a few others were releasing a few 2-track commercial stereo tapes at this time, prior to the introduction of the stereodisc LP in 1958...Ed.]
The Jupiter Symphony (16-17 August 1956) that comes to us has a natural elegance of line, a resonant clarity, and high intellect. A mighty homogeneity of sound permeates every bar, and the Minuet and Trio enjoy a forward thrust quite compelling. The separation of string forces Blech favored, the second violins on his right, added to a natural affinity for the Mozart antiphonal style. The bubbly brio that suffuses the magnificent counterpoint of the Finale achieves a fluidity and dramatic impetus quite the envy of the more severe, tight-lipped exemplars of the German school, like Bohm and Baumgartner.

The duo-piano team of Victor Babin and Vitya Vronsky often appeared with Blech, along with luminaries Ossian Ellis, Robert Casadesus, Clara Haskil, Isaac Stern, an Denis Matthews. The Concerto in E-flat Major (5-6 June 1957) exudes an aristocratic leisure in all parts, a total security of means. Gorgeous, long phrases and textural balances move the opening Allegro in galant, polished figures. Each of the pianists elicits his own light but sure pearly play, and the cumulative sheen illuminates the whole. The Andante achieves that timeless quality that Mozart’s sense of melody practically patented. The unbuttoned Molto Allegro throws any number of cosmic sparks, albeit with relatively “monophonic” effects, despite the pearly virtuosity of the performance. The playful Four Minuets (1 May 1957) include wonderful hurdy-gurdy effects in the C Major, a powerful Cassation in No. 3 in G. No. 4 resounds with a lithe ceremonial triumph we won’t hear again until Elgar. Like Blech, Bruno Walter maintained a weakness for Mozart’s K. 605 German Dances (23 May 1957), of which the third, “The Sleigh-Ride,” warrants our eternal delight.

The Mozart C Major Symphony, K. 200 comprised part of the inaugural program for the London Mozart Players’ 1949 season, so no accident they included for inscription (23 February 1956), a performance of mettle and buoyant elan. Terrific work from the horns and woodwinds in the first movement, the string trill and turns no less exuberant spice. Again, Blech’s only serious rival in this superb music was Bruno Walter. The last movement Presto sings with especial sparkle, a rounded, clarion realization, youthful and exuberant. The Concerto for 2 Pianos (5-6 June 1957), arranged from a concerto for three klaviers, communicates a frothy afternoon’s serenade character, with glitter and fioritura to spare. Its chains of liquid runs rather anticipate the wonderful K. 448 Sonata for two pianos in D Major. The music-box sonority of the Adagio justifies the price of admission. The dainty Rondo in the form of a minuet proceeds in galant figures, breaking out in passionate exclamations for brief periods only to return to the comfortable elegance it took the French Revolution to bewilder. ?The Symphony in D Major by Juan Crisostomo de Arriaga (rec. 22 February 1956) represents the work of a nineteen-year-old prodigy, in many ways a rival to Mozart, even a fiery counterpart to Schubert. Blech had pioneered the work on radio, so appreciative auditors had clamored for an inscription. Verve, vivid energy, and sympathetic wit mark every turn in this happy, learned score, a marvel of intricate musical lore for one whose potential remained largely unfulfilled because of his early death.

Mozart’s Posthorn Serenade (29 April-1 May; 23 May 1957) benefits from judicious tempi, certainly but no less from the elation that bursts forth from every choir in Blech’s ensemble. The schwung in the last two movements completely beguiles in its natural expressiveness. The only contender for this throne would be Beinum’s recording from Amsterdam. Blech makes the tone of the opening movement match the thrilling pageantry and exalted pomp we find in the Haffner Symphony. The Concertante: Andante grazioso could immortalize the London Mozart Players by itself. So, too, the Rondo allows us to hear what the London Wind Players had been prior to their having joined the full Mozart complement. The Andantino intimates those chromatic tragedies we find in the slow movement from Piano Concerto No. 18 and in Don Giovanni.
Serving as an “appendix,” we have a mono recording of Haydn’s Drum Roll Symphony (17-18 January and 8 February 1955), a performance that fully justifies its tympanic epithet. The somber theme in C Minor, shadows of the Dies Irae, breaks forth in a jaunty 6/8 whose robust character carries quite through its classical contours. The expressive double theme and variations that ensue keep us in touch with the moving chromatic line in the bass, presumably derived from a Croatian folk song. The Minuet with its strong first beat compels our attention, as does the bucolic Trio. A horn call announces the last movement Allegro con spirito whose rhythmic cell Blech exploits to full advantage, delighting in Haydn’s limitless capacity to pair off timbres and densities in constant, joyous panoply.

A Best of the Year addition, so make Blech and the LMP your Christmas present to yourself.

Reviewed by: Gary Lemco

 

Fanfare Magazine - April 2010

Founded by violinist-turned-conductor Harry Blech in 1949, the London Mozart Players quickly became a staple of the postwar London concert scene. (Blech directed them for more than 30 years, until his retirement in 1984.) The group recorded first for Decca, later for EMI; the enterprising reissue label First Hand Records has gathered together their complete recordings in stereo for EMI, from the years 1956–57, when their contract with the label expired. The LMP’s recordings with Blech have not been well served in the CD era: one all-Mozart disc on Dutton Laboratories; some concert arias with Irmgaard Seefried; and the Sinfonia Concertante K 364 with Norbert Brainen and Peter Schidlof of the Amadeus Quartet (Testament). All the material in this set appears on CD for the first time, and much of it for the first time ever in stereo.

As related in Lyndon Jenkins’s excellent notes, a chamber orchestra devoted to Classical-period repertoire was something of a novelty in the postwar period. In its heyday, the group boasted many of the best players in London, which together with Blech’s inspirational leadership and innate sense of Classical style proved a winning formula. For audiences accustomed to the anachronistic sound of full symphony orchestra in this repertoire, hearing it for the first time on an appropriately Classical scale must have been quite revelatory for many.

Fifty years on, with period-instrument and period-style performance the new norm for this repertoire, how do these performances hold up? Very well indeed, as it turns out; it is surprising to think that music-making of this caliber has had to wait so long to appear on CD. In the “Jupiter” and “Drum Roll” symphonies, the outer movements fairly crackle with brio and élan, an irresistible sense of these top London players enjoying themselves. The chamber-orchestra textures are less string-dominated than was the norm at the time, paying dividends in the textural clarity of the contrapuntal finales. But Blech’s original vocation as a violinist is everywhere in evidence, in shapely, imaginative, rather soloistic string phrasing and a freely expressive style (hear the C-Minor variation theme from the Andante piu tosto allegretto of the “Drum Roll” Symphony). The result, however, always sounds natural, without the sense of self-conscious point-making heard too often nowadays. Solo woodwinds play with the kind of individual personality reminiscent of the glory days of the Royal Philharmonic and Philharmonia orchestras of the 1950s (not surprisingly, since the LMP shared many of the same players)—hear the inimitably witty conversational interplay in the Rondo of the “Posthorn” Serenade. Indeed, throughout it is this sense of the orchestra as a felicitous collaboration of strong individual personalities (strings as well as winds) that distinguishes these performances from others of the time. Comparison with Eduard van Beinum’s contemporaneous recording of the “Posthorn” Serenade (Concertgebouw, 1956, Decca Original Masters) illustrates well: For all the sleek expertise of the Concertgebouw under van Beinum’s crisply stylish direction—magnificent in its way—the music-making comes across as rather generic by comparison.

Slow movements are occasionally phrased with a heavier espressivo than is now the norm—hear the Andante from Mozart’s No. 28, though Blech doesn’t come close to Walter’s treacly bogging down with the Columbia Symphony in 1954. (The young Colin Davis is well-nigh ideal here, with the English Chamber Orchestra in 1962, reissued on Eloquence.) Blech’s minuets, conversely, sound years ahead of their time in their brisk clip—the “Jupiter” Minuet’s joyous one-in-the-bar Schwung a far cry from (say) Beecham’s stately gait.

The two-piano concertos are exceedingly well served by Vronsky and Babin—subtle characterization in the first movements (listen to their response to such details as the dark turn to minor beginning the recapitulation of K 365), a wonderful singing freedom and orchestral palette of tone colors in the slow movements (K 242 a tour de force of different colors and articulations), and a supple virtuoso interplay in the finales. The minuet and Ländler groups are nicely characterized, and the 19-year-old Arriaga’s hand-me-down exercise in symphonic Sturm und Drang played to the manner born.

The production is exemplary, with full discographic details, informative notes, and attractive reproductions of the original artwork. First Hand’s remasterings, from the original stereo tapes (disturbed from their slumbers for the first time in 50-plus years!), are outstandingly vivid and full-bodied. (The only mono item, the Haydn, was included to fill up the third disc. But the sound is so good, and the performance so engrossing, that the ear scarcely registers the difference.) Now can we have the LMP’s complete mono recordings? Meanwhile, I recommend you snap up this marvelous set without delay.

Reviewed by: Boyd Pomeroy

 

Classical Source - January 2010

Another very attractive release from First Hand Records, all of the stereo recordings made for HMV by the London Mozart Players and Harry Blech, and issued late in 2009 to mark the 60th-anniversary of the LMP that year and also the centenary of Blech’s birth (although some sources give 1910 as his birth-year: June 1909 has been verified). Blech (who died in 1999) – a violinist in the Hallé Orchestra, then the BBC Symphony Orchestra, and the leader of an eponymous string quartet – formed the London Mozart Players in 1949 and remained as music director for thirty-five years, the ensemble a staple of London concerts as well as being on international duty and the makers of some fine recordings.
The ‘Jupiter’ Symphony enjoys a virile account of the first movement, quite ardent in fact, if at times a little brusque, but the tender opening to the slow movement makes amends, a lovingly sustained traversal that develops intensity in the development. With a Minuet that has infectious lilt and a lively, celebratory finale, this is a direct, detailed and affecting performance. Symphony 28 receives a festive outing in the outer movements, heartfelt in the Andante, swinging in the Minuet. Exposition repeats are observed, but not in the ‘Jupiter’.
In the pair of concertos for two pianos, Vitya Vronsky and Victor Babin share harmonious exchanges, a delicate touch and a real sense of interaction to give us particularly loveable performances, such affection radiating from the musicians themselves, the slow movement of the E flat Concerto elegantly turned and with feeling, the finale spirited and poised and, when required, given with an unforced ebullience; similar qualities informing the F major Concerto.
The Minuets and German Dances are brought off with style; very enjoyable in these performances of gusto; and Mozart’s large-scale ‘Posthorn’ Serenade is given a splendid outing, grave in its opening, spirited, poised and detailed in the Allegro that follows. In all seven movements, Blech judges tempo unerringly, the fifth-movement, marked Andantino but here taken more as an adagio, is eloquently revealing. Woodwind-playing throughout is particularly characterful. Crisper timpani would have been welcome, but this is certainly a performance to relish alongside yardstick recordings by Colin Davis, Eugen Jochum and George Szell.
Of the music by Mozart, the Symphony in D by the short-lived Juan Crisóstomo de Arriaga (1806-1826) is full of delightful invention and invention, allowing us to savour what was and what might have been; the slow introduction full of promise, the Allegro vivace as sunny as Arriaga’s native Spain, the ‘Spanish’ Symphony that Mendelssohn did not travel to write. The slow movement is a lyrical Andante, somewhat Schubertian, the Minuet turns out to be a pointed scherzo, and the nervy finale is a fine rounding-off. Blech seems to have had a soft spot for this concentrated and enjoyable work and this performance brings it alive persuasively.
Haydn’s ‘Drum Roll’ Symphony is presented in mono, there being no stereo version. Blech opts for forte-diminuendo for the opening timpani solo to signal an expectant introduction and, then, a lively exposition (the only quibble being short grace-notes). The slow movement begins with notable gravitas, and the finale is irresistible élan.
With handsome re-mastering by Ian Jones and excellent, informative notation (including the reproduction of the LPs’ original covers), this is a noteworthy and very pleasing release. How Mozart (and the other composers here) used to be played, with wit and warmth rather than dogma – and still can be thanks to these recordings that are gratefully received.

Reviewed by: Colin Anderson

 

Musicweb International - February 2010
BARGAIN OF THE MONTH

The London Mozart Players were founded by Harry Blech in 1949. At that time he was best known as leader of the string quartet bearing his name. Their first concert in the Wigmore Hall was an immense success and in 1951 they began a series in the Royal Festival Hall that drew a loyal and devoted audience. Harry Blech continued to conduct the orchestra until 1984 but the present recordings all date from the period of the orchestra’s early years, when it seemed to offer a fresher and more lively way of playing Mozart and Haydn than did the larger London orchestras.

The London Mozart Players were recorded by HMV from 1952. These LPs were issued in mono but from 1956 recordings were also made in stereo, although the very helpful notes with these discs explain that the producer for these sessions worked essentially on the mono version, leaving the stereo to a separate balance engineer. They were all issued initially in mono only, with a stereo version following later if there was felt to be sufficient demand. In the event stereo versions of many of the recordings here remained unissued and even unedited, and are presented here for the first time. I note in passing that the Haydn Symphony was recorded only in mono, and is offered here by way of an Appendix, and that the stereo tapes of the final movement of the Serenade could not be found so that this too is only in mono. The stereo recordings themselves have only limited directional character, so that neither the two pianos in the concertos nor even the normal left-right placing of first and second violins that Blech insisted on are very apparent to the listener. What is apparent, however, is a more generalised opening up of the texture than in their mono discs, so that all the glorious detail of these works is much more obvious. Dutton have issued some of their earlier mono recordings which make an interesting comparison.

What is even more apparent, however, is how very characterful the performances are. Admittedly they might not pass muster now in terms of current views on historically informed performance, but the players always seem to show immense enjoyment in the music, and are never content either to introduce effects for their own sake or merely to coast along - the listener is captivated from first to last. Admittedly not everything is perfect. The concertos show what a good team Vronsky and Babin were, sounding for much of the time like a single pianist, but, perhaps perversely, I think it better if there is some aural differentiation between the two players so that the concertos sound more conversational and less virtuosic. Nonetheless on their own terms both performances meet the demands of the works. Incidentally, K242 was originally for three pianos but is played in the composer’s version for two pianos.

The various symphonies all go well, as do the shorter works, but my clear favourite here is the “Posthorn” Serenade. This can seem overlong but here every movement is given such character that an immediate encore was required. The set would be worth having for it alone, especially as it is available at a very low price, but with all the rest included it becomes an irresistible bargain and a worthy memorial to Harry Blech the 100th anniversary of whose birth was celebrated in 2009.

Reviewed by: John Sheppard

 

Musicweb International - June 2010

First Hand is a new label but it’s quickly developed an astute eye for well packaged retrievals from the LP racks. Not only that it, but it has access to stereo tapes into the bargain and, as one saw with its Cherkassky release, this can make for elucidatory listening; unexpected listening too, in many ways. And here too we have not only 3 discs that are being released on CD for the first time but a number that are making a first ever stereo release. Fittingly the set was published to mark a dual anniversary -the 60th anniversary of the London Music Players and the 100th anniversary of the eminent violinist and quartet leader in his own right and conductor of the band, Harry Blech.
Blech had a talent for balance. He also had a talent for natural sounding tempi. Put together these enliven the Jupiter symphony. He ensures that the slow movement doesn’t trudge, that the bass line is mobile, that the Minuet is genially characterised, and that the finale’s machinations are delivered with crisp accenting and accuracy. The C major symphony [No.28] was recorded earlier in 1956 and it receives a spruce reading; the chamber sized string ensemble allowed a degree of clarity that contemporary symphonic orchestras couldn’t. Maybe there’s a slightly Beechamesque way with the Andante - no bad thing if the Bart was on good behaviour.
We hear that excellent two piano team of Vronsky and Babin in two concertos suitable for their direct and musical talents. Mozart’s E flat major [K365] shows their sensitive and warmly shaped phrasing in the central movement and also their crisp digitally superior playing of the outer movements. Certainly the pianos are over-recorded in relation to the band, much in the line of recordings of the time; one struggles to hear some orchestral counter-themes. But as with the F major concerto the fluency and genial spring, and refined sonorities, are a real tonic.
Arriaga’s D major symphony is a rewarding work whose rich lyricism is matched by the confident brio of its themes. It’s hugely enjoyable, and is a work that should be programmed more often, and Blech’s handling of its youthful resilience is estimable.
We also hear Haydn’s Drum Roll symphony. At a time when Haydn meant Beecham in London concert halls it’s enjoyable to hear Blech’s vital and well characterised reading. Things unfold very naturally indeed and one must note too the solo violin playing in the slow movement - was it by any chance Max Salpeter, who died very recently at the grand age of 105? Incidentally the producer for both these two symphonies was Berthold Goldschmidt.
This is by no means the end of the pleasures on offer in these well filled discs. The little Mozart Minuets and German Dances were unusual on disc at the time and the Posthorn Serenade too. This latter is all-stereo except for the finale, which dips into mono.
The remastering was carried out at Abbey Road using the original source material. It is first class in every respect. And I liked the book-like format which opens out neatly; its elegant simplicity is just right. An admirable release.

Reviewed by: Jonathan Woolf

 

All Music - April 2010

Founded in 1949, the London Mozart Players was one of the first orchestras in the 20th century to perform Mozart's music with a band roughly the size of one Mozart himself would have used, and the group was playing him so when conductors like Bruno Walter and Herbert von Karajan saw nothing wrong with playing Mozart's music with the regularly sized, full symphony orchestras they normally led. For London Mozart Players' leader Harry Blech to recognize that there was a purely musical benefit in returning to Mozartian dimensions took no small amount of prognostication; six decades on, it is customary for even the largest symphony orchestras to somewhat slim down before launching into one of Mozart's symphonies, and there's a great reason why; his musical textures become clearer, as do ornaments and other instrumental details that the largesse of a full symphony orchestra tends to obscure. Although the recorded heritage of the London Mozart Players begins around 1950 and yet continues, First Hand Remasters' three-CD set London Mozart Players - Harry Blech: The Complete HMV Stereo Recordings focuses on the early stereo recordings the ensemble made for HMV in 1956 and 1957, most of which were issued as mono LPs only; here those performances are made available in stereo for the first time. Among the treasures included are Mozart's piano four-hand concertos as played by the legendary piano duo of Vitya Vronsky and Victor Babin and the first recording made of Juan Arriaga's Symphony in D major.

The performances are brisk, energetic, and spontaneous; although they were not an original instruments ensemble -- Vronsky and Babin play Steinways rather than the Anton Walter pianos that Mozart favored -- they had the flexibility of one, which is demonstrated to good effect in the swinging lilt of their gait in the Mozart minuets and dances included here, originally issued on a 45 rpm EP. The London Chamber Players were also a very effective group for purposes of recording as Blech preferred to separate his first and second strings to the left and right, respectively, in order to expose the antiphonal crosstalk between these parts, and HMV's recording picks that up exactly. The recordings are of excellent quality for the era, indeed better than some stereo recordings made a decade or more later, although they belong to their time in that there is an emphasis on midrange and the low end lacks a little punch. There are also occasional inequities in the performances themselves; little mistakes here and there or passages of a bit too strident a string tone, but these are minor concerns, barely noticeable in light of the power and electrifying energy of these recordings. By way of filler, a 1955 mono recording of Haydn's "Drumroll" Symphony is also included, and it is useful to illustrate the difference in sonics between it and the stereo content, not to mention in itself a very fine and exciting performance. As the London Mozart Players remain active on the scene, the group has re-recorded most if not all of this material and none of the members on these recordings are in the group any longer -- Blech retired in 1984 and died in 1999 -- this isn't the sort of package that a reissue producer would necessarily place at the top of his/her blotter for prospective re-release. Nevertheless, it is a good idea; these recordings still represent key, late-18th century literature in bracing, top-quality performances and splendid sound, all being elements that never go out of style.

 

Reviewed by: Uncle Dave Lewis

 

International Record Review - April 2010

The Mozart recordings made in stereo by the London Mozart Players for EMI in 1955-57 have been released by First Hand Records. The ense,ble at the time boasted many of London's finest wind and string players and this shows in the quality of the performances here. More impressive still is the LMP's combination of energy and polish on these early records. The Jupiter Symphony is particularly fine; it's both robust and stylish, and the lass familiar Symphony No. 28 goes well too. Vitya Vronsky and Victor Babin are the soloists in winning performances of the Concerto for two pianos, K365 and the composer's own two-piano arrangement of the Triple Concerto, K242. The Four Minuets, K601 and Three German Dances, K605 are hardly standard repertoire, but these and the Posthorn Serenade are done with zest and affection; so is the Symphony in D by Arriaga and Haydn's Drum-Roll (the only mono item in this set, which releases stereo versions of many of these recordings for the first time, all from master tapes). To complement the excellent transfers in this enterprising release, the booklet has informative notes by Lyndon Jenkins.

 

Rondo Magazine - Germany May 2010

Wer kann, der kann: Ei gentlich war der 1910 in London geborene Harry Blech von Haus aus Gei ger, und als solcher mu sizierte er in jungen Jah ren im Hallé Orchestra und im BBC Symphony Orchestra. Allerdings reizte ihn schon immer auch das Dirigieren, und so gründete er im Jahre 1949 kurzerhand sein eigenes Kammerorchester, die »London Mozart Players«. Später baute das bis heute existierende Ensemble mit Gastdirigenten wie John Eliot Gardiner, Roger Norrington oder Charles Mackerras seine Nähe zu einer historisie­renden Musizierpraxis weiter aus. Doch schon in den Fünfzigerjahren klangen die LMPs ungemein durchsichtig, klar und vibratoarm, was die hier auf drei CDs versammelten wahrhaft begnade ten Mozartproduktionen eindrucksvoll belegen. Und so glauben wir ohne Weiteres der Witwe des 1999 verstorbenen Blech, die zum Beiheft dieser CD ein Grußwort lieferte: “Harry himself had an incredible musical instinct which, together with his charismatic if somewhat volatile personality and wicked sense of humour, seemed to inspire all those who played under his baton."

Those who can, can: in fact, Harry Blech was born in 1910, into a violinist's family, and it was as violinist that he played, in his early years, in the Hallé Orchestra, and the BBC Symphony Orchestra. However, he always had an itch to be a conductor, and so, in 1949, he founded his own chamber orchestra, the “London Mozart Players”. Later he built up the ensemble which exists today with guest conductors like John Eliot Gardiner, Roger Norrington, and Charles Mackerras, continuing with the historical performance practice. These exceptional LPs, now 50 years old, are lucid, clear and free of vibrato, strikingly collected here on three CD's, make a truly impressive Mozart issue. So, in a word, we should believe Blech's widow, (he died in 1999), who added a welcomed note to this release: “Harry himself had an incredible musical instinct which, together with his charismatic if somewhat volatile personality and wicked sense of humour, seemed to inspire all those who played under his baton.”

Reviewed by: Michael Wersin