Mimi Ezust wrote:

>... but what matters to me is not the speed, but what that conductor
>can bring to the music, overall.  I isn't just the tempo.

It sure isn't.  I'm always struck by the fact that the more I like a work,
the more I can enjoy a wide range of tempos.  The important thing is that
the pacing seems/feels natural to me.  Using the Aria from the Goldberg
Variations as an example, I like it fast, slow, loaded with legato, devoid
of legato, whatever.  As Mimi said, it's what the artist brings to the work
which counts most.  In her recent DG Goldberg Variations, Tureck plays the
Aria with much staccato.  That's not esy to pull off, but Tureck fully
succeeds because of her artistic creativity and insight.  Although I loved
Schepkin's WTC and Partitas, his focus on staccato in the Aria didn't do it
for me as I found it contrived.

Some reviewers go ballistic about Gardiner's tempos in the slow movmements
of Beethoven's symphonies.  I like the traditional tempos, and I like
Gardiner's.  Sorry, Deryk.

Don Satz
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