In one of his many recent postings, Don Satz asked us to ruminate on an
8 CD set of Bach concertos and overtures/suites from Naxos, implying they
would be second rate because of the modern instruments they're played on.
Well, I ruminated, and I now have the set in front of me to review.  My
problem is, I can't make up my mind where I stand on HIP.

I enjoy listening to music played in a style and on instruments that the
composer would have readily identified with.  That's why I enjoy Gardiner's
Beethoven Symphonies and Troeger's Bach Partitas on clavichord.  But I
also enjoy von Karajan's Beethoven, Argerich's Chopin, Solti's Mahler,
Ashkenazy's Mozart, Gringolts' Paganini -- the list goes on.  Having grown
up listening to music played in a non-HIP style (it hardly existed when I
first started listening to music) I guess I have developed an expectation
that the opening of the Emperor Concerto will sound like this, the
Sarabande from Suite No. 3 will sound like this, etc.  When I am launched
into something unexpected I experience mild shock and have to work hard
to retain Esa-Pekka's "Open Ears" and *really listen.*

My point is, should we necessarily disregard another cycle of hoary
old favorites merely because it doesn't 'fit' what seems to be a
recent trend towards favoring HIP? Is there nothing new to be heard
in interpretations which do not follow the growing (lowing?) herd? And
if a group of compositions are relegated to history because they're not
historically correct enough, do we risk ignoring a part of history simply
because it doesn't fit the current PC definition? After all -- we got to
the current version of interpretations etc.  through evolution from the
originals -- and that's a historical development, right? Wow -- this is
worse than a sci-fi epic on the causality effect of time travel!

I have nothing against HIP, and I listen to HIP interpretations frequently.
But I think to be dismissive of another release simply because of its
provenance smacks of dangerous assumption-making.  (Mind you -- now I have
to go listen to the nine plus hours of music in order to review it!)

Comments/thoughts welcome.

Tim Mahon
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