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In Reply to: RE: "most recent recordings of Beethoven and Mahler symphonies are much, much more true..." Hmmm... posted by clarkjohnsen on April 09, 2008 at 11:14:55
... Scherchen made whopping cuts in virtually all the Mahler he did, in some cases cutting entire movements by half. When I say that most recent recordings are more true to the score, I could support that by noting that unlike Scherchen, at least most modern conductors play the whole work!
And Mengelberg would certainly serve as a case in point for anyone who wanted an obvious example of conductor repeatedly making unmarked tempo changes, which he does virtually throughout his Beethoven. Weingartner I know less well, but even a passing acquaintance with his Eroica shows that he indulged in the reorchestrations that were considered "necessary" and "traditional" till fairly recently.
Which is not to dismiss these conductors, merely to point out that for a variety of reasons, musicians have become much more respectful of what is actually written in the score over the past 40 years or so. It's true that sometimes becomes an end in itself, and we lose some of the spirit we had back in the 40s and 50s. But those of us who do like historical recordings should be willing to concede that as far as simple accuracy goes, a Harnoncourt or Abbado is almost always much, much more true to the score than a Mengelberg or Scherchen.
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