Tony Duggan <[log in to unmask]> writes:

>You want to own a recording of a particular piece of music.  _All_ the
>recordings available of that work delete _all_ the repeats.  Do you go
>ahead and buy one of them, or do you do without?

This is like asking me to choose between a broken arm and a broken leg.
You present a dilemma in which no choice will yield satisfactory results.

>You want to own a recording of a particular piece of music.  All the
>recordings _except one_ delete all the repeats, but the entire range
>of critical opinion is agreed that the one recording that includes the
>repeat is a travesty of the work in every other instance - sound, playing,
>interpretation, recording.  Do you go ahead and buy the turkey? Do you buy
>one of the others without the repeats? Or do you do without?

Since I do not let critics make decisions for me, I would by the
recording that they condemned and decide for myself.  I seem to recall some
discussion of critical listening on this thread, and critics do have a way
of being wrong, especially when they go around acclaiming recordings of
works that disregard a composer's intent.  I also seem to recall reading
an apt analogy between critics and eunuchs.

-Jocelyn Wang
Culver Chamber Music Series
Come see our web page: www.bigfoot.com/~CulverMusic