Steve Schwartz responds to David Harbin:

>>I find it amazing that Gramophone 'experts' did not spot the fake orchestra
>>and conductor, neither of which, to my mind, made any recordings in the
>>past.  Also the fact that major talents were ripped off and not spotted
>>(eg Haitink ...)
>>
>>The real question this raises for me is the validity or reviews in the
>>light of the Hatto scandal.  What does all this say about the standard
>>of reviews and knowledge?  ...
>
>I disagree.  Do you know how many recordings of standard rep there are?
>Nobody has the kind of detailed knowledge to reliably pronounce.  Indeed,
>I remember Neville Marriner on a British program (My Music?) being
>subjected to a "blind" test of listening to a Handel recording.  He was
>rather hard on it.  Of course, it turned out to be his own recording.
>
>I think it enough for a critic to say what he likes or dislikes and why.

Of course, but without any listening at all, if NM read the label on the
Concert Arts disc, as of course did of the 'Gramophone experts', he would
have recognized it as a scam. "It's not rocket science".

Norman Schwartz
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