Re: [Harp-L] virtuoso

["Steve Shaw" <moorcot@xxxxxxx>]

> On Oct 20, 2004, at 3:45 PM, Steve Shaw wrote:
> > There was a guy in the 1930s called Artur Schnabel who recorded all 
> > Beethoven's piano sonatas on scratchy old sides of 78s.  His playing had 
> > so many fluffs and wrong notes in it that you could sit there and groan at 
> > times when listening to it....but, today, in spite of all the modern young 
> > bucks who can play the same stuff fast and faultlessly, he is revered by 
> > many (including a lot of the best modern-day players) as the greatest ever 
> > interpreter of Beethoven's piano music.
> >
> > Was he a virtuoso?  I neither know nor care!
> >
> > Steve
>
>  I feel the same way when guys go on and on about various dead guys (who 
> weren't all THAT good). I mean, they were good, but certainly not up to 
> "Deity" status. It's like comparing swimmers from the 1954 and 2004 
> olympics. This dog won't hunt.
>
> smo-joe


It can be a serious error to assume that all progress in any genre of music 
has automatically been in the right direction over the last 
how-many-decades/years.  It would be equally wrong to assume that just 
because someone is "modern" they can't stand comparison with the "old 
masters."  All prejudices must be cast aside and we must judge on merit. 
That judgement will inevitably be largely subjective.  The proof of the 
pudding, blah blah....Schnabel's recordings are all still available, on CD 
these days, if anyone wants to hear him for themselves.

Steve

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