Steve Schwartz wrote:

>Don Satz mentions my name:
>
>> Quite a few months ago, both Steve Schwartz and I reviewed on this board
>> a set of Bach's French Suites played by harpsichordist David Cates on
>> the Music & Arts label.  I found the performances the best on the market;
>> Steve considered them overly romanticized.  ...
>
>...  I don't even consider you or me necessarily right.  We hear what
>we hear and make a case for our reactions.  What else can we do?  Cates,
>incidentally, is starting to grow on me -- as I speculated in my review
>that he might.

On Don's recommendation, I purchased the Cates and have loved it from
the beginning.  As far as who's right, I don't really know that it
ultimately matters.  But I do feel that when an artist puts his work
"out", he gives up a certain amount of authority as to interpretation
and meaning, as this is part of the interaction with his audience (this
applies to all arts, I think).  When someone criticized Jacqueline du
Pre for playing something in a different manner than the composer would
have liked, she said something to the effect of "once he has finished
writing it, it is mine!"

Miguel Muelle
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www.miguelmuelle.com/db