tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-367173689821897070.post3765933122947221996..comments2024-03-23T12:42:50.151-04:00Comments on MMmusing: Constraints & the AmateurMICHAEL MONROEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16392848296427560715noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-367173689821897070.post-28273823715610079292007-10-03T08:25:00.000-04:002007-10-03T08:25:00.000-04:00Thanks for the comment, Amy. I agree that the Hatt...Thanks for the comment, Amy. I agree that the Hatto situation is quite different than reviews of amateur performances; but, I think there's an interesting connecting thread. Dyer didn't believe that Hatto was an amateur, but he did believe that the recordings he heard were all produced by an unknown elderly pianist suffering from cancer who had conquered almost the entire repertoire. The bias here is on a much more subtle level than when Teachout reviews dinner theater, so yes, Dyer did believe he was hearing great piano playing, and he probably was. The point is that part of what made the listening exciting and meaningful for him was the backstory. <BR/><BR/>The best example of this in the Hatto saga are Bryce Morrison's quite different takes on the same Rachmaninoff 3rd recording; he didn't like it when it was Bronfman's, but he praised it a decade later when he heard it as Hatto's. Now there are all sorts of possible explanations for his change of tune that wouldn't have to do with her biography, but it seems likely that his conception of Hatto played into how he listened - which I think is pretty normal and understandable. <BR/><BR/>It may be that the Hatto backstory just worked as a sort of switch that made listeners more likely to pay attention than when these recordings had been attributed to pianists who weren't famous. (Obviously, the Bronfman recording is an exception, because he's quite famous.) There are so many thousands of recordings out there, maybe it helps to have a story flip the switch that says, "pay special attention to this." <BR/><BR/>In such a case, it's not so much that Hatto's story made unprofessional playing sound professional (nobody has suggested that any of the playing isn't of a high professional standard); it just made people listen in a more engaged way.MICHAEL MONROEhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16392848296427560715noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-367173689821897070.post-58970728037464527892007-10-02T21:37:00.000-04:002007-10-02T21:37:00.000-04:00I read that Teachout article. I think critics alw...I read that Teachout article. I think critics always adopt different standards for amateur performance, and I think this is the correct approach. This practice goes at least as far back as Virgil Thomson.<BR/><BR/>However, I am not sure that this explains the critical reaction to Joyce Hatto. When the former Boston critic--was Richard Dyer his name?--praised Hatto to the skies, was he doing so because of her personal circumstances (at least as those personal circumstances were then represented publicly)? I don't think so. I think he genuinely believed that he had discovered a great, long-forgotten pianist. Her personal circumstances, such as they were, were not part of his equation.<BR/><BR/>At least that is my personal belief.<BR/><BR/>What a wonderful treasure you have: your own, family version of "The Wizard Of Oz"!<BR/><BR/>AmyTina Boyerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06317033463103056116noreply@blogger.com