Olivier Solanet writes:

>Why would anyone want so many different interpretations of a singular work?

To maximize musical satisfaction.  Our record libraries are also
a reflection of our personalities.  My penchant is to zero in with
intensity on a few areas of life.  Continued acquistion of Goldberg
Variations recordings is as natural to me as drinking chilled water.

>To me, if one has a predilection for a particular piece of music - as I
>presume we all do - wouldn't the superlative interpretations be the only
>ones sought?

But how do you get to the point of knowing which interpretations are
superlative?  To my mind, that requires having ready access to the
performance and listening to it many times.

>Surely 100 interpretations of the same work can't all be good!

Why not?  Isn't the above number arbitrary?  I have over 100 Goldbergs,
and each of them is good or better.

>Rather than collecting works, I collect performers - again, those whom I
>consider to be the best.

We differ here also.  I never collect performers - always go with
repertoire.

Don Satz
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