John Dalmas replies to me:

>>I never cared for Klemperer's Mahler or, for that matter, his performances
>>of 19th century music in general.  I always thought of him at his
>>noticeably better best in modern stuff.
>>
>>I never had the chance to hear him live . . . all I know of his
>>music-making is from record.
>
>While I agree with Steve to some extent about Klemperer's 19th century
>music, especially his tempos in his Beethoven, I wonder if there is a
>significant body of Klemperer's recorded music of "modern stuff" for Steve
>to make such a judgment.  Oh, yes, there is a Gershwin here, a Weill there,
>and there is a recording of a Bartok and a Janacek.  Or perhaps Steve means
>Klemperer's recordings of his own compositions.  In any case, for a music
>critic who has been dismissive out of hand of Dinu Lipatti and now Otto
>Klemperer, I have to raise the question.

You've gotten me mixed up with someone else.  I'm no music critic.
I simply say what I like and dislike and why (often, but not always).
I didn't dismiss Lipatti "out of hand." I made the point that the Great
Pianist CD was the first Lipatti I had ever heard, and while I liked the
Chopin, I found that he played everything on that disc the same - ie, like
his Chopin.  I also asked for help and got precious little.  For me to have
dismissed Lipatti's artistry implies that I have heard a significant
amount, and I admitted at the time that I hadn't.

As for Klemperer: other modern composers include Hindemith (a classic
Nobilissima Visione, among other things), Stravinsky (among which one finds
an incredibly exciting Symphony in Three Movements), Debussy, Schoenberg,
and Ravel.  I dimly recall a Bartok Music for Strings, Percussion, and
Celesta, but this could be a trick of memory.  I know Klemperer composed,
but I haven't heard any of his work.

Steve Schwartz