Faure plays Faure (1913)

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What can I say, Frank? Every time I listen to a piece played by the composer, I am left quite perplexed. I am obviously talking about composers for whom a custom already exists. If you listen, for example, to Ravel's Pavane played by Ravel and compare it with that played by contemporary performers, you understand what I mean. We are probably also influenced (or spoiled) by the "cleanliness" of the recorded sound.

This has at least the advantage that usually one does not listen to it on piano alone, so...

However, I find that the staccato in the left hand works less well than in the orchestral version. Obviously a personal opinion, subject to revision.

Anyway, all in all, it is always quite an effect to listen to a piece recorded a long time ago.

Dear Bianca, your post means many things. In my opinion, there is also a certain embarrassment in commenting on these videos because, in general, there is a tendency to mythologize the greats of music history. Who knows how Bach sounded? That being said, I think there is also great recognition in all of this for the work of performers and, no less so, the awareness that we will always listen with different ears than those of centuries ago....to top it all off, the score remains a framework with wide margins of freedom

I had read and listened but I did not want to comment. What can one say?

Dear friends, we are listening to a Welte recording. Welte rolls are not very reliable and many were not signed by the performer for editing permission. Perforated rolls are more or less faithful to the actual performance, which was approached very closely with the Duo-Art system that reproduced as many as 16 levels of expression and various levels of pedaling. In the past, I participated in the recording of 13 records reproducing performances using this system. In particular, in the one dedicated to Chopin's preludes played by Busoni, I signed off on the musical direction, i.e., the control of the perforation against the score. I remember finding very few errors. Those recordings edited by the Fonè Company of Livorno (a label I do not know if it still exists) were much appreciated, and on that and other occasions, one could observe the enormous difference in fidelity of the Duo-Art system compared to others from the past, including the Welte. Among the 13 records, the one with Chopin's preludes won the Grand Prix du Disque. It was a point of pride for the then owner of the entire series of preludes, the then Director of the Museum of Musical Instruments in Rome, Antonio Latanza, who indeed made such a collection available.

Therefore, what you are listening to is not necessarily what Fauré played. Indeed, upon listening, one notices trivial inequalities due to imprecise perforation and also an unexpressiveness, including poor pedaling, which was sometimes even absent in that recording system.

pianoexpert wrote:

Dear friends, we are looking at a Welte recording. Welte rolls are not very reliable and many were not signed by the performer for editing permission. Perforated rolls are more or less faithful to the actual performance, which was approached much more closely with the Duo-Art system that reproduced as many as 16 levels of expression and various levels of pedaling. In the past, I participated in the recording of 13 discs reproducing performances using this system. In particular, in the one dedicated to Chopin's preludes played by Busoni, I signed off on the musical direction, i.e., the control of the perforation against the score. I remember finding very few errors. Those recordings edited by the Fonè Company of Livorno (a label I do not know if it still exists) were much appreciated, and on that and other occasions, one could observe the enormous difference in fidelity of the Duo-Art system compared to others from the past, including the Welte. Among the 13 discs, the one with Chopin's preludes won the Grand Prix du Disque. It was a point of pride for the then owner of the entire series of preludes, the then Director of the Museum of Musical Instruments in Rome, Antonio Latanza, who indeed made such a collection available.

Therefore, what you are listening to is not necessarily what Faurè played. In fact, upon listening, one notices trivial inequalities due to imprecise perforation and also an unexpressiveness, including poor pedaling, which, at times, was even absent in that recording system.

Thank goodness!...

I had considered the aspects expressed by Paolo and honestly I had given them less weight; but if it is indeed as Paolo says (and if he says it, that's how it is), I don't understand all this enthusiasm that I seem to have perceived around this video.

The concept of a "gem" certainly does not reside in this document, but rather in Fauré's work, which must be savored in a concert hall or through a high-level recording... something that could not happen a century ago. I stick to the score (for which I thank the composer), the performer who brings the score to life, and the sound technician (not forgetting technology) who, if they were good, makes us desire the concert hall less.

How many of you have listened to it all or would have wanted to interrupt after just a few handfuls of seconds?

Even if I haven't listened to it all... A few seconds. Maybe 20"

Me too, just a few seconds....I thought that maybe it was an
erroneous attribution....maybe a joke!

I listened to the whole thing and it didn't seem so bad to me... if I listen to Gould's piano, I can also hear this one

LucaCavaliere wrote:

io l'ho ascoltata tutta e non mi è parsa poi così male... se ascolto il pianoforte di Gould posso sentire anche questa

A parte che dipende cosa ... di Gould.

Mi fa piacere se qualcuno abbia apprezzato...io non ho retto molti secondi

Gould, even if he often takes too many liberties, is always very interesting to listen to. He is rich in material to reflect upon...