John Dalmas wrote:

>I almost always (respectfully, Dave) disagree with Don Satz's
>recommendations (Hey, me too, but for different reasons.:-)-Dave),
>and am frankly, often puzzled by his tendency to favor more, or most
>recent recordings of a given work over some of the stellar performances of
>the past.

Help, Mom, they're ganging up on me in pairs!  No matter.  I don't
recommend recordings to be applauded or to know that 200 list members
zoomed into the net or a store to buy my recommendation.  I post these
recommendations because of my enthusiasm for what I've heard, and I always
try to provide my biases and stylistic preferences so that I won't
"sandbag" any list member.

As for the historical element, I have made it clear on the list that I
don't buy many historical recordings.  I've also been clear on my position
that I strongly support "evolution of the species" and think that "skills"
improve with every generation.

>It is not so much that Don dismisses Wanda Landowska's pre-war RCA-Victor
>recordings of Handel's Suites with faint praise ("(they) stand as a
>monument to past performing practices"), but that he omits from his
>overview more recent recordings of the suites by harpsichordists Thurston
>Dart and Anton Heiller, and those by Glenn Gould, all certainly worthy of
>at least mention if one is going to hold up Blandine Verlet's playing as
>exemplary.

I don't have every recording of any mainstream work, and I have no desire
to go that route.  I can only mention recordings I'm familiar with.  In the
case of Handel's suites, I mentioned every version I own; I can't do more
than that.  I do take exception to the notion that I provided an "overview"
of the recordings of the suites.  To me, an overview requires knowledge of
every recording.  I never use that word, because I never have every
recording.  I simply wrote of Verlet's recording and the others I'm
familiar with, and I maintain that I provided sufficient alternatives.

The funny thing about this is that John, if he reads most of my postings,
would already be well aware of my musical tastes.  Hence, my recomendations
and criticisms can easily give him some insights such as, "I'm staying away
from that Satz recommendation".

I am glad to see that John is back to writing postings with some "bite" in
them.  It makes list traffic more interesting for me.  Keep them coming.

Don Satz
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 [I'd prefer incisive, informed observations and insightful analysis.
 "Bite" tends to generate lots of heat and very little light.  -Dave]