> > Furthermore, early recordings did not allow editing. All acoustic or early electrical recordings are, in a sense, live recordings.
Donal: Would this matter? It might be argued, on the flipside, that the possibility of editing out 'mistakes' later should encourage rather than discourage risk-taking.
Early recordings were often truncated to fit on 78 discs. Studios had limited patience, and did not allow many pressings of a 78 recording, nor did they allow large-set recordings. In a famous blunder, RCA refused to allow Rachmaninoff and Horowitz to record the two-piano version of Rachmaninoff's Symphonic Dances. Two many records required, was one excuse given.
While some pianists who rely heavily on editing, like Glenn Gould, use edits to enhance risk-taking (consider Gould's recording of the Liszt transcription of Beethoven Fifth Symphony, in which Gould admits that the ending surpassed his technique and he had to "double-track" the finale), most, like Uchida, use it to create a perfect, albeit bland, reading. (To hear what I mean, compare Gould's Mozart sonatas to Uchida's, both of which are heavily edited.)
Donal: In 'rock' there are many stories of 'mistakes' that get left in because they work or (consider Al Kooper's famous organ part on "Like A Rolling Stone") of some off-the-cuff improvisation that becomes key to the work. In pop/rock, the development of the studio as a kind of instrument and laboratory (rather than merely a booth in which to do a live recording) has allowed many musical advances.
Sure. True also of jazz. In piano music, think of some of Art Tatum's powerhouse romps. Fats Waller also recorded spur of the moment notions (e.g., "saving all my love for you ...[shift of address]... for you ...[shift of address]... for you ...[shift of address]... especially for you" in a later version). In other cases, studio versions can make the performance stale: many of Keith Jarrett's studio recordings are not at the same level of his live concerts (e.g., the Cologne, Germany concert).
Donal: Must mention that Gilels' account of Mozart's 27th Piano Concerto is one of the most sublime performances of any musical kind I've ever encountered - but then I got it coz it was 'rosetted' in a book.
I discovered Gilels when I was a kid and bought an old RCA recording of the Shostakovitch Piano Sonata 2 at a yard sale for 50 cents. No book for me. I later bought the Ashkenazy version on a friend's advice and was disappointed.
Donal: Hence the expression that something extraordinary is "off the Richter scale". (This quip is a work-in-progress). My real point is that I'm going to look him up in those books....
There's also Youtube if you've got ten minutes. Here's a good example of Richter's risk-taking. Be patient and listen to the whole performance and, by the end, you'll hear what I mean:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1UUn8DQqxs ------------------------------------------------------------------ To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off, digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html
