Don Satz wrote:

>This might be a dumb question, but I'll ask it anyways.  Singers of
>lieder rarely play the piano part themselves - why?  Reynaldo Hahn
>did both.

Several reasons, Don.

1.  Many singers are not trained pianists, and cannot play the part.

2.  I would argue (and I speak from both the singer's and the pianist's
point of view, since I do both professionally) that it is not beneficial
to the music do both, since the complexity of the piano part would
destract one's attention from the vocal line or vice versa.

3.  It is difficult to sing with a proper technique in the position that
it takes to sit at and play the piano.

Kevin Sutton