Gershwin CD
By Spencer Chase
I so completely disagree with Rick Pargeter's assesment of the Gershwin CD that I can't help but write. I don't own the second and would not accept it if offered as a gift. I was given the first by a fellow piano collector as a joke. It is music like this that gives reproducing pianos a bad name. After the midi-izing and the editing there is not a shred of the original music left. These are fine rolls filled with both subtle and dramatic piano virtuosity. The CD sounds like it was punched out by a teletype machine with a faulty power supply. Then the whole thing was recorded so badly that it sounds as if the pianos were both stuffed into a small bathroom. Anyone who has heard this CD (I have only heard # 1) should make it a point to seek out a well restored Duo-Art and see how the music is supposed to sound. These early recordings were the excellent result of great skill and dedication on the part of the performers and editors of these rolls. To see their efforts publicly trashed by producing adulterated garbage like this CD, is sickening.
[ Editor's Note:
[
[ I'm torn between letting this message go out without comment,
[ or to make an editorial comment. I guess I'm going to comment.
[ I've been told that some people were extremely offended by Artis
[ Wodehouse's editing of the reproducing roll data. Spencer's
[ note articulates this more strongly than I've ever heard it
[ stated before.
[
[ I respect Spencer's right to be offended by the original performances
[ having been "altered". However my personal experience has not
[ been as negative. I personally like the first CD. Further, several
[ friends who knew I was interested in "player pianos" have come
[ to me after hearing the CD and expressed interest, for the first
[ time, in "the hobby". Comments of amazement, etc, about "reproducing"
[ pianos, their music, and the "hobby" in general. This seems
[ positive to me.
[
[ I do think, however, that I'll personally take the challenge.
[ Mike Ames has a Steinway/Duo-Art that's in good condition. He also
[ has some number of the rolls which went into the recording of
[ the first CD. I'm going to put him up to making recordings of those
[ rolls with the intent that I can A/B them some time at home?
[
[ I'd be interested in other's opinions on this subject. Please be
[ polite if you disagree with any of the three opinions expressed
[ so far!
[
[ Thanks
[ Jody
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(Message sent Sat 12 Oct 1996, 09:39:18 GMT, from time zone GMT-0700.) |
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