response 11 of 77:

May 2 14:02 UTC 2007

re #10 In fact one issue is that after the cd boom came, far too much 
of the standard classical catalogue was recorded again and again and 
again, with the emphasis being on grinding out mass quantities of cds 
cheaply to make money.  You'd see Beethoven symphonies and Mozart this 
or that put out done by obscure symphonies and conductors you never 
heard of in small towns and cities all over europe.  The idea being 
that many casual listeners just want a passable copy of Beethoven's 
fifth for instance, and would be more than willing to buy it done by 
the east polovchak orchestra for a fourth of the price of versions by 
the Berlin Philarmonic or the Vienna Philharmonic.

There became so much quantity out there that it obscured the quality.  
It became too hard to find the really good recordings in the swarms of 
bad, pedestrian recordings put out cheaply and stuffed in the music 
bins to make a fast buck.  Its like if you sold real Rolexes in the 
same display cases as a thousand fake Rolexes, and so many people 
bought the fakes and had them break down that they got turned off on 
the brand altogether.

response 13 of 77:

May 2 15:39 UTC 2007

LOL!

response 15 of 77:

May 2 16:09 UTC 2007

re #14 The reason is that each performance is an interpretation.  
Years ago I saw Dustin Hoffman's broadway performance as Willie Loman 
in Death of a Salesman.  It was brilliant.  Years later it was revived 
with Brian Dennehy as Willie and I saw it again. I had seen Death of a 
Salesman.  Was it worth it to see it again?  It was absolutely worth 
it, because Dennehy's interpretation was far different than Hoffman's.

As times change, interpretations change. Approaches can change.  Great 
works of art are living things that change and take on different 
meanings with different performers.  Playing a great classical piece 
isn't like connect-the-dots, such that if you have someone playing all 
the notes right then thats all the work is or can be.  If you are 
satisfied with just one version, as if there is only one 
interpretation/one perfection, and that once it is acheived, the work 
has reached its limit, then you will be forever satisfied with just 
that version.  But if you believe great works are living things, and 
that the music has limitless potential, you must be receptive to new 
versions.

 

response 17 of 77:

May 2 17:54 UTC 2007

re #16 bad analogy.  Composers write music for others to perform.  
They expect their works to be reinterpreted.  Painters do not do 
paintings expecting others to re-paint the same works.

response 19 of 77:

May 2 18:23 UTC 2007

I have at least five different versions of some pieces (at about 10 cents
each).

response 21 of 77:

May 2 18:49 UTC 2007

Of course, when you read War and Peace, you're likely reading a
reinterpretation of it in English rather than reading the original
Russian.  Plus you're not reading it in Tolstoy's handwriting but rather
a professionally typeset version which probably uses a different font.

The difference is merely one of degree, but pretty much any successful
book is going to be translated, adapted into a made-for-tv-movie, or
reinterpreted based on what Oprah tells people to think about it.

response 23 of 77:

May 2 19:13 UTC 2007

re #23 Maybe you are part of the problem Mary.  You shouldn't just be 
satisfied with the old recordings in your collection.  You should want 
to hear modern musicians new interpretations.  Suppose you have the 
best cello works ever written, as they were recorded in the seventies, 
and feel your collection is complete.  So you won't buy any new cello 
works.  This would mean you have missed out on all the great work Yo 
Yo Ma has done re-interpreting the great cello works during the last 
decade and a half.  It would be a music experience you are depriving 
yourself of having.

Now Yo Yo Ma has sold plenty of records by now, but new artists like 
him won't have the same chance.  The labels aren't putting out nearly 
as many records anymore.  Because people like Mary won't buy them 
anymore.

response 25 of 77:

May 2 19:20 UTC 2007

re #23 I mean by some people's attitudes, you'd think they'd tell Yo 
Yo Ma he shouldn't even bother re-recording the great Brahms cello 
concertos with his nearly three hundred year old Davydov Stradivarius 
cello.  I mean Brahms has been done before right and people are 
satisfied with their collections?

response 27 of 77:

May 2 19:35 UTC 2007

re #26 what self righteousness?  I just think too many people these 
days fail to see classical music as an evolving art form.  They think 
Brahms is Brahms is Brahms.  Beethoven is Beethoven is Beethoven.  The 
classical music recording industry is dying out because too few see 
the value of new interpretations anymore.  Once they have a catalogue, 
thats it.

response 29 of 77:

May 2 20:31 UTC 2007

Moreover, there aren't enough artists recording standards these days,
or doing covers of Beatles songs.  It's a dang shame.

response 31 of 77:

May 2 20:55 UTC 2007

I can sympathize with richard's frustration about people having 
different tastes than he has. I know that I sometimes feel similar 
frustration when favorite tv shows are cancelled. But even so, richard, 
it is kind of arrogant to call other people's personal tastes "wrong" 
or even to imply that their tastes are part of some problem. 

response 33 of 77:

May 2 20:59 UTC 2007

Oh and I also wanted to comment about things like works of literature 
being reinturpreted. It turns out that they often are and if you pay 
attention, you might see the same story being told over and over again. 
You know Pyramus and Thisbe becomes Romeo and Juliet becomes West Side 
Story, etc.