Donald Satz wrote about some of Ian Crisp's comments regarding HIP:

> The comments
> sound very similar to those made by Don Vroon in ARG; Vroon believes that
> the HIP movement is a fad which will go away.  But there might be a ray of
> hope here.  Vroon welcomes the extinction of HIP peformances.  Please, Ian,
> tell us that you would feel at least a twinge of regret at its departure.
> Personally, I get high anxiety just thinking about HIP going away; much of
> the enjoyment of my musical life would go down the toilet.

I would share Don's feelings if this were to come to pass, but much as I
have disagreed with Ian's postings on this subject, I don't get the same
impressions.  Ian can speak to this himself, of course, but I take him at
his word that he values HIP, at least from an intellectual point of view,
if not always in the practice.

The reason?  I wouldn't want to compare anybody on this List to that
Chicken Little Vroon.  He has predicted the Fall of the West for so long
and linked it to the fortunes of Classical Music, as if that were going to
make a difference.  Heck, even the Barbarians at the Gate have left town
out of sheer boredom, waiting for him to finally finish his diatribes so
that they can take their cue;-).

In any case, people have been predicting that this "fad" called HIP will
keel over and die for decades.  They said the same thing about rock 'n
roll.

> Major fans of HIP performances see them as having evolved slowly over the
> last few decades and being based on a combination of research and musical
> preference.  It's not our fault that the record companies rarely produce
> non-hip recordings of baroque music; the companies are convinced that they
> will not sell well, that those who do not like HIP performances talk a good
> game but won't put out their money for baroque music on modern instruments
> unless the performing artists are the flavor of the month such as the
> Eroica Trio.

I dunno, it seems that Rilling's Bach Cantata series, whether one likes the
performances or not, have been getting enough support to keep going just
fine.  And re-releases of the Leppard/Marriner/Munchinger/Richter, et al.
recordings of Baroque music don't seem to be going extinct, are they?  Just
a thought,

Bill H.