[78-L] Mascagni.

[Spats]

Hi Mike!

There is no rule that says that a composer can conduct, of-course.

However, on the other hand, Mascagni DID conduct and over a long 
period, so he should at least have been capable of setting something 
as basic as the correct tempo, methinks. As I remember, his Cav. was 
recorded in the early 1940s, when he was already an old man. No?

I think that it was Leoncavallo who 'supervised' in the 1907 version 
of Pag. when the real conductor was Carlo Sabajno.

As to Leoncavallo's accompaniment of Caruso on Mattinata, I love that 
version. It's just a poorly recorded track. I've never yet heard a 
copy in really clean sound and, of-course, they filed down the keys 
on the pianos in those days, so the piano sound is awful.

However, in terms of interpretation, I still think that it is the 
definitive version.

I almost always prefer conductors and/or performers who try to bring 
out what the composer intended, instead of adding something of their 
own. OK. You get occasional geniuses who add something wonderful (I 
think of Chaliapin, for instance), but these are few and far between. 
Usually, the original works best.

As Verdi once wrote to a tenor who wanted permission to add top 
Cs...after giving him permission to do so...he suggested that if one 
day, the tenor's top C's were not quite so wonderful any more...

'You might try singing it the way I wrote it'.

Remember too Rossini's remark to the young Adelina Patti who had 
performed one of his arias to him in private with LOTS of added 
decoration....

'That was lovely. Who wrote it?' ;-)

Merry Crimble...

Earl.

At 8:06 am -0800 08/12/2008, 78-l-request at klickitat.78online.com wrote:
>There is no rule dictating that a composer must be a capable or even a
>competent conductor. Richard Strauss was considered superb though the
>few examples recorded do not show that consistently. But Mascagni was
>recording early enough that one cannot rely on what was captured to
>indicate much of anything. In addition, there is argument over his role
>in the recording which he may have "supervised" for publicity purposes
>rather than conducted.
>
>It is also a fallacy to assume that the composer knows all that his
>creation offers. In some cases, such as Verdi's Simon Boccanegra and
>Macbeth, his revisions are extensive and produce something close to a
>new work; freezing either in its original form would give us only an
>interesting but lesser work. Why, then, would one assume that a
>recording by the composer or any other indication of the balance, tempo,
>or style he preferred should rule?
>
>Leoncavallo accompanied Caruso in a recording of one of his songs. It is
>an intriguing document but fortunately we have versions with far better
>piano playing and better agreement between singer and pianist.
>
>Again - in the spirit of the season - Bah, humbug!
>
>Mike