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
[log in to unmask]