Donald wrote:

>Engineering can mask many problems of technique and proficiency, but
>it can't provide the depth of the communication between the composer and
>the pianist, and then between the pianist and listener.  Aldwell's very
>strong in that area for me.  I know I've come across a great artist when
>I feel I've been taken directly to the source of the music - the composer,
>and more than that, inside the composer where I share his/her mind and
>feelings.  I'm confident that's the main reason why record collectors are
>more than willing to live with the relatively poor sound of historical
>recordings.

I think all this points of view finally depend on the different kinds of
TASTE.  Aldwell has a very solid knowledge of music in general terms.He
used to teach Piano and Mucic theory at Mannes.He is supossed to be very
introspect and analytic in every piece he play maybe, BUT unfortunately
not always it means a superlative performance of some work.As i told you
before:I never listened his Bach performance,but i listened in different
times some of his aproaches,and some of his playing,and for me it is
unexpressive.  About the quality of recordings, i think it is no
relevant,because despite the good or poor quality of it, you can save at
least the "general" aproach to the works the artist is playing.What about
the old recordings of Brailowsky (as an example),and other old greats.Two
weeks ago a listened after a lot of time and old LP of Rubinstein playing
the two Chopin concerti with the London Symphony conducted by Sir Jhon
Barbirolli.What a jewel.The quality of that recording is just terrible,but
the musical rendition of it is so marvelous.  Now,speaking of a pianists
of major stature,something close to Adwell ,happen with Brendel.Even if
i recognize his level, i don't like Brendel's pianism,specially for his
"fast" slow tempi.  Regards.

Gerardo:.