Juozas Rimas writes:

>So, Don, if in your opinion, strict objective reproduction of the
>composer's world isn't the way to go, don't you think the problem
>you raise in this thread does not exist as everyone is doing their
>best already?

I'll assume that Juozas is referring to all artists doing their best
to enter the composer's world.  I don't know if that's true, since it
involves the motivation of the artist.  Besides, the issue isn't whether
artists are doing their best, but whether they are actually accomplishing
the goal.  When I purchase a recording, I really have no idea what the
artist's motivation may be; I can only go by what I hear.

However, let's take a recorded example of entering the composer's world -
the Labadie disc of Bach's Goldberg Variations on Dorian.  Some of the
variations are played in a consort approach while the others have a fuller
string sound and remind me of music written for Hollywood.  Is it possible
that Labadie is trying to dive into Bach's musical world? Perhaps, but if
he is making the attempt, he's way off the mark.  Hollywood is light-years
away from Bach's world.  Of course, most recordings are not so blatantly
wayward as the Labadie.

In conclusion, I think that performers *and* reviewers would be wise
to avoid those composers and works where a reasonable sense of comraderie
is absent.  Just the other day, I read a review of a disc containing a
violin and piano arrangement of the Shostakovich Opus 34 Piano Preludes.
The reviewer boldly admits that he never has heard the 24 preludes played
on piano and then goes on to state that the violin and piano version is
effectively arranged.  How in the world would he know that the arrangement
is an effective off-shoot of the original? How can I assume that this
reviewer feels close to the Opus 34 Preludes if he has never had the
initiative to listen to them on the intended instrument? It isn't as
if it's a hard task to get hold of a recording of these works on piano
since there are currently about ten versions available on disc; I have two
recordings of the Opus 34 just in my car.  The only conclusion I can reach
is that the reviewer is a violin maven more concerned with the violin than
the composer's creation or sound-world.  Overall, generic reviews are no
better than generic performances.

Don Satz