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Wed, 5 Jan 2000 18:23:57 PST |
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Jim Tobin wrote:
>Early in their careers Paul Badura-Skoda and Alfred Brendel seemed like
>Viennese twins, with similar reputations and even repertoire. I always
>preferred Badura-Skoda's playing and have wondered why his career seemed
>to fade while Brendel flourished.
Well, we can safely assume it wasn't Brendel's handsome physical features
or his exuberant demeanor. I suppose it's possible that more folks liked
Brendel's playing and he got a big contract with Philips as a result. But,
it could well be just the luck of the draw.
Most of us are probably aware of fantastic artists who live in obscurity
while we are listening to inferiors from a major label. You have to be
in the right place at the right time, and some artists make sure they are
there.
I'm not very familiar with Badura-Skoda. I used to have a set of his Bach
Partitas (or Eng. Suites) on harpsichord. I wasn't impressed and donated
it to a library. But, I wasn't into harpsichord versions at that time. I
do wish I still had the recording, but I can't correct the dumb moves of
the past. Now I remember that I also had a disc of one of his Mozart piano
sonata discs played on the fortepiano. That ended up at the library also.
Boy, I'm not giving this guy enough respect.
Don Satz
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