Hi Steven: In some amount you are rigth. What happened with Lipatti,is he
never took to much care about different stiles.In that sense he was not a
purist. About your taste,or mine, or any other,the aproach to criticize to
an artist,depends a lot on your parameters. Of course if you like most the
pianists which play some composer in the rigth style (even style sometimes
becomes a little subjetive),of course is natural you feel little disapoint
with Lipatti's playing.But on rhe other side,if you have pacience,and you
listen again few more times his recordings,you will realize a lot of
wonderful things in it. His sound quality, his fluent and ligth(but never
empty) phrases,and something (of course very subjetive)very special about
his "spontaneity",and inocence,and spirituality in his playing,As once it
was told by Yehudi Menuhin. For me too he was not my favorite,but anyway
i condsider him one of the bigest pianists of this century,but under a
very particular point of view. One more thing. As Joseff Hoffmann wrote in
his piano book: In most cases a pianist begin to learn the piano playing in
a very simply,no rational,and natural way . Then when this student make
some progress, he(she) become a more rational, more intelectual, and
sometimes very complicate being about his playing. Then when the maturity
comes,this some pianist come again to simplicity,but not for lack of
knowledge or something else,but for trascendence. Many artists never
arrive up to this point. I thing Lipatti was one of the few who get it.Of
course this is a very personal aproach to Lipatti's playing. Best regards.
Gerardo:.
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