Klarinet Archive - Posting 000437.txt from 1997/12

From: Bill Hausmann <bhausman@-----.com>
Subj: Re: Today's Titus on the Met Broadcast
Date: Tue, 9 Dec 1997 09:10:17 -0500

At 09:02 PM 12/7/97 -0800, you wrote:
>>
>> Or.....we may simply play a piece in any way we like simply because we
>> like it that way. If it is not being portrayed as original in every way,
>> it is not a crime, nor is it unprofessional.
>
>Roger, I really have to disagree with you on this one. We are not talking
>about playing a crescendo where there's none written or adding some
>interpretive detail, we're talking about playing the notes that Mozart
>wrote. I think the principal player in (correct me if I'm wrong) the most
>prestigious and highly-paid opera orchestra, certainly the most
>widely-heard opera orchestra in the US if not in the world, has an
>obligation to play the notes that Mozart wrote.

It's just Mozart, not God! Operas are routinely performed with major cuts,
concertos with personalized cadenzas, symphonies with tempos chosen only to
be different from someone else's interpretation, etc. The earth will not
be destroyed by this, and neither will the music.

Bill Hausmann bhausman@-----.com
451 Old Orchard Drive http://www.concentric.net/~bhausman
Essexville, MI 48732 http://members.wbs.net/homepages/z/o/o/zoot14.html
ICQ UIN 4862265

If you have to mic a saxophone, the rest of the band is too loud.