[78-L] Mascagni

[simmonssomer]

Toscanini probably was compensating for slowing down by speeding up. All 
geniuses can do that.

Al Simmons

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Steve Abrams" <steve.abrams at gmail.com>
To: "78L" <78-L at 78online.com>
Sent: Monday, December 08, 2008 1:47 PM
Subject: Re: [78-L] Mascagni


> This doesn't make a great deal of sense, Al.  Mascagni may have slowed 
> down
> (on this particular recording).  But you have forgotten that Toscanini
> increased his tempos as he grew old!
>
> Also, there is a well known live recording of Cavalleria also conducted by
> Mascagni in connection with the 50th anniversary. The tempos in this
> performance are faster than those on the complete set.  Also, the tempos 
> in
> the recording of L'Amico Fritz a year later are quite sprightly.
>
> It should be added, however, that Mascagni enjoyed himself hugely in 
> making
> his recording of Cavalleria.
>
> Zucker has recently circulated Gino Bechi's memories of the recording
> sessions:
>
> With his magical baton in his hand, Mascagni let himself fly on the wings 
> of
> music, to a better world, where discs, clocks and commercial necessity
> didn't exist; he laughed at technical needs....He put on a pair of new 
> shoes
> that at his smallest movement went cri-cri, causing the session to come to 
> a
> halt. The producer said to him, "Excuse me, Maestro, but you know that 
> every
> outside noise gets recorded, and your shoes are creaking. So as not to 
> ruin
> the recording, you need to try to stand still."
>
> "What, my shoes," responded Mascagni. "The cri-cri isn't good? That's what
> you think! I'm adding it to the orchestra as a supplementary sound. We're 
> in
> the country, and in the country the sounds of crickets are a good 
> thing."...
>
> When we recorded the duet with Bruna Rasa, we sang the first take really
> well, synchronised--fused with the orchestra--a masterpiece. When the last
> note finished we were waiting for the red light to go off, when Mascagni
> exclaimed, "Bravi, benissimo, I'm really happy"--and he clapped his hands
> like a child. We had to do it over again.
> After we had repeated the thing a zillion times for musical reasons or
> because the wax of the matrix broke, we thought we finally had brought it
> into port when, with the red light still lit, Mascagni declared, 
> "Obviously
> we've got it"--and everything was ruined. [Translated from Daniele 
> Rubboli:
> Gino Bechi: il palcoscenico e la vita (Bologna: Bongiovanni Editore, 
> 1988),
> p. 100ff.]
>
> Perhaps I should add that the Naxos transfer of Cavalleria on two CDs is
> filled out with a number of examples of orchestra music conducted by
> Mascagni.
>
> I find Mike Richter's comments to be ignorant and arrogant. Richter says
> that Mascagni's records (from the '30s and '40s are too primitive "to
> indicate much if anything."  This does not stop him from drawing 
> conclusions
> about
> Caruso and Leoncavallo (on piano) performing together in 1904.
>
> Richter asserts there is dispute about whether Mascagni actually conducted
> the recording of Cavalleria.   This reminds me of his preposterous claim 
> in
> another place that much of the premiere of Turandot in April, 1926 was
> recorded.  He says "The boxes were mismarked and the matrices were
> destroyed."  He also asserts wrongly that none of the principals ever
> recorded anything from the opera which has survived.
>
> For the record, there were live recordings of excerpts from Turandot at La
> Scala in November 1926 and these were issued.  (Four choruses conducted by
> Panizza.) The soprano Zamboni recorded both of her arias, and two of the
> three creators of "Pang" and "Pong", Nessi and Venturini recorded the long
> trio with Baracchi (who sang the Mandarin at the premiere.
>
> Steve Abrams
>
> ___________________________________________________________________
> Message: 13
> Date: Mon, 8 Dec 2008 10:30:03 -0500
> From: "simmonssomer" <simmonssomer at comcast.net>
> Subject: Re: [78-L] Mascagni.
>
> The older one gets, the faster things we see and hear around us seem to
> move. This causes us to slow down. It's true of driving a car. I'm not 
> sure
> about leading an orchestra. But it makes an interesting theory.
> Oh Mama!
>
> Al S.
>
> Message: 16
> Date: Mon, 08 Dec 2008 08:07:53 -0800
> From: Mike Richter <mrichter at cpl.net>
> Subject: Re: [78-L] Mascagni.
>
> Spats wrote:
>> Hi!
>>
>> If that's the tempo that the composer himself wanted, then that's the
>> correct tempo, it seems to me. Forget the critics!
>
>
> Bah, humbug!
>
> 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
> -- 
> mrichter at cpl.net
> http://www.mrichter.com/
>
>
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