Klarinet Archive - Posting 000394.txt from 1994/11

From: "David B. Niethamer" <NIETHAMER@-----.BITNET>
Subj: Re: Listing to the recording first
Date: Mon, 28 Nov 1994 21:53:13 -0500

I like to listen to *many* recordings of works I'm preparing, either
solo, chamber, or orchestral. I guess I have a big enough ego that I'm not
too worried about being "outclassed" by a recording, and I don't feel
that I would "clone" any performance I might hear at this point in my life.

Andrew Porter of the New Yorker commented many times on shortcomings he
found, most often with singers, in terms of knowing the "tradition" of
various works to the extent that he felt that tradition was musically
useful. In the roughest form of paraphrase, he felt that knowing all the
great interpreters of various works, and their strengths and weaknesses,
made one a more aware interpreter, and *more* able to produce an
"original" interpretation (perhaps "personal" interpretation is a better
way of saying it) of musical value.

I liked the post refering to learning the the mood and background of the
piece from recordings. Having played many premieres, I can tell you that
I feel my second and subsequent performances are much more informed in a
general musical way by hearing tapes to learn the piece "from the
outside". No matter how diligent one is, there is always too much missing
from the performer's perspective from inside the group.

Of course there is a certain kind of 'laziness' that leads performers to
"learn the piece" from the recording, and I think one has to do one's
homework in addition to study of recordings. But I think they both have a
place.

David