Posted by Christopher on September 29, 1999 at 15:47:29:
In Reply to: Re: Re: Re: New York Philharmonic posted by Chuck Jackson on September 29, 1999 at 12:09:22:
This reminds me of a story:
Aaron Copland and Conlon Nancarrow (two VERY important composers of the twentieth century who wrote in very different styles) were having a conversation during which Nancarrow complained of most musicians' inability to play his compositions with any accuracy. Copland commented, "I enjoy the excitement of wondering whether the horn player will hit his next note." Nancarrow's reply: "I'd rather just hear the d(AT)mn note!"
Nancarrow eventually bought two player pianos, learned how to hand punch the rolls, and wrote some of the twentieth century's most important music (and its quite beautiful stuff), played "perfectly" by mechanical means. (He also began writing for people again late in life, when performers had advanced their technique to he point that they could play his stuff.)
Moral: different people have different opinions (even anonymous ones). No one is disputing that Deck missed some notes during the performance. Some people would rather have heard him back off and nail the notes. Other people like that he went for it and forgive details. Everything else in this discussion seems to be so much name calling.
Let's all calm down and listen to our Boulez or Toscannini records, whichever you prefer. Personally, I'll go for Boulez, and note that Deck was not always perfect on the broadcast, but the strings (finally!) sounded terrific.