Bob Draper wrote:

>...  I think everyone knows that the authenticity of the work is in doubt
>and that it was re-worked for 'Fantasia'.  So it must be last point.

Yes, sorry for not being clearer. But the perjorative was on the last
point.

>Let me give you an example.  When I first heard Eine Kleine Nachtmusik
>on the radio 15 years ago it was played by someone like the BPO or VPO.
>I liked it so I went out and bought Christopher Hogwood's version.  This
>was like listening to a completely different piece of music and I was
>disappointed.  Of course I didn't know much about music then.  Now, I
>realise that Hogwood is closer to 'Truth'.

Yes, it's probable the performance practices are closer to what Mozart
might have been used to, versus the BPO/Karajan version with which I first
got to know the work.  Nevertheless, a lot of folks on this List don't
really care much for Hogwood in anything he does, though I don't count
myself among them.  Whether it's closer to the "truth", ultimately won't
matter to those who simply don't like the approach.

>Also, my mind has moved to accomodate the HIP sound.  But, of course the
>average punter (particularly of Mozart, Haydn etc) likes the big band sound
>just as the average beer drinker likes fizzy lager.  So if a record company
>and artist wants to sell more copies they provide what the punter wants.
>Educating the public is not on their agenda.

The big band sound does work!  Try Bernstein's Paris symphonies (the
original orchestra that Haydn wrote for was purported to have 40 violins!).
And not all record companies cater to the average punter--what would life
be like for HIP fans without Harmonia Mundi, Opus 111, Hyperion etc.:-)?

>So, although I know that the VPO BPO etc have a tradition of playing this
>way, I am sure that as educated musicians they must be aware that it's not
>what the composers intended.

And I suspect that in many cases they don't necessarily care.  This is what
I understand to be an argument of those not into HIP--that this music needs
to have a "modern" interpretation to it to keep it "alive", and out of the
museum.  Now Harnoncourt, among others, has said that a truly "modern"
interpretation, versus a simple continuation of the way Mozart/Haydn has
been played for the last 80 years or so, would be something to hear.  So
until that happens, we have traded the museum of 200 year old artifacts to
one that contains merely 75 year old ones.

But I don't think that a non-HIP performance by definition wants for
honesty on the parts of the performers.  It just may not appeal to you,
and probably not to me either.  The nice thing is that there is a choice.

Bill H.