Nick Perovich:

>An example I've used before: I first learned Hummel's A minor piano
>concerto on an old Turnabout LP; when I heard the Stephen Hough version,
>I thought to myself, "Oh, now I understand how it's supposed to go.")

I had a similar experience with William Steinberg's version of Beethoven's
7th.  It took Szell to show me what the symphony was all about.  I steered
clear of Steinberg but just last week, I heard his version of The Planets
and was enthralled.  I wonder what else I missed.

Another aspect of the imprinting of the first performance of a work is
that of tempo.  For a very long time, I found it difficult to listen to
a version of a work which was slower than the one I was used to.  I gave
up on a lot of Klemperer performances for this reason although, unusually,
the first movement of his Mahler 2 seems to be faster than the others I've
heard.  These days I'm more tolerant and in some cases, find myself
preferring slower versions.  Has anyone else had a similar experience?

Richard Pennycuick
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