Klarinet Archive - Posting 000815.txt from 1997/12

From: Neil Leupold <nleupold@-----.edu>
Subj: Re: Ricardo Morales' posting
Date: Wed, 17 Dec 1997 09:36:25 -0500

On Wed, 17 Dec 1997, Dan Leeson: LEESON@-----.edu wrote:

> So it is not reasonable to suggest that, because it had been done
> that way in the past (in the very distant past) that it was OK to
> continue the practice today.

This is an example of selective ignorance for the sake of stirring
up doo-doo. I realize you didn't have the message in front of you
when you typed your response Dan, but what you say above strikes
at the very heart of the issue at hand. I find it very difficult
to believe that you missed the closing sentence of Ricardo's para-
graph, wherein he made crystal clear his concession that even though
his predecessors had played the aria on soprano clarinet, it didn't
generate a precedent for him to validly do so. He knows that.
And when we read his message, then *we* all know that he knows
that, so why do you go out of your way to state the obvious?
Ricardo essentially agreed with you, admitted the controversion
against authenticity, and then let us know that despite the facts,
the practice of playing the aria on soprano clarinet will probably
not change at the Metropolitan Opera House in the near future.
We all know that this will never sit right with you, and that
you'll be stomping your foot about it all the way to the grave,
but Ricardo already answered your argument.

Neil