what's your opinion on historical performance?

Question

agree or disagree? should we just reproduce everything or modern modification needed? detailed explaination welcomed =]

Answer 1

I face this dilemma a lot. My opinion is to keep your options open, ie be able to pull off a stylistically accurate performance as well as a more 'modern' interpretation.

The unexpected may happen, for example you may think that Baroque music is usually played cleanly and clinically, but when I presented my Vivaldi cello sonata for a masterclass, the professor told me to play the slow movements with plenty of feeling because Vivaldi was also a prolific composer of operas, and his music borrows emotional power from them.

What an interpretation! It certainly threw my playing into a new light. Conversely, the music of J. S. Bach may be taken a bit more mechanically because the composer is famous for not having any operas amongst his vast output, and his lines tend to move far too much to slot in a lot of emoting.

Certainly, there are people who have gone far overboard in their modern interpretations - pianist Lang Lang has been criticized for shifting the focus from the music to himself with his flamboyant playing and out-of-the-ordinary interpretation - sometimes adding pauses just to heighten the dramatic effect, but butchering the original piece in general. Even worse is Maksim Mrvica, whose claim to fame is in his poorly-done techno remixes of popular classics like Rimsky-Korsakov's 'Flight of the Bumblebee', with added synthesized sounds.

On the other extreme, it is well nigh impossible to produce 100% stylistically accurate performances with modern instruments. Piano pieces in particular evolved with the technical development of the piano in the 19th and 20th century. You can't play Liszt on an 18th-century clavier for two reasons: most Liszt pieces use the whole range of the piano, exceeding that of the clavier, and the clavier simply wouldn't be able to take the force of the hammering - you'd end up breaking all the strings. Conversely, if you were to play a piece by Mozart on a 20th-century piano for example, you'd have to sit back and think about how you'd do it.

This is particularly relevant for Baroque-era keyboard pieces, where the issue of stylistic accuracy is most debated. Note that pieces written for 'keyboard' for example J. S. Bach's Preludes and Fugues or Scarlatti's sonatas - do not specify what instrument they are written for, making them equally playable on organ, harpsichord, clavichord, spinet, or 20th-century piano. Of course the feel is not the same for each instrument, the organ having a much heavier touch than the delicate harpsichord.

How, then, would you do it on a 20th-century piano? A lighter tone? A stronger one? Depends on the piece you play? There are no right or wrong answers. Clearly, personal judgment is very important in every case. Therefore you should always keep your options open.

Answer 2

I think in any age, a composer and a performer would do whatever they could to sound their absolute best, by using the best tools. Will I play Bach flute sonatas on a Baroque flute? Heck no! I want to sound good. I played a master class (famous flutist will remain anonymous) who told me: at the opening of the D major flute concerto, I was to diminuendo as I ascended the scale, because "that's what period flutes would have sounded like." Puh-LEASE!

And as far as equal temperment goes, all you have to do is listen to a performance without it, and you will gladly embrace modern developments. God! I work so hard to play in tune, with a great sound which will transport the last listener in the last row. Don't ask me to do anything other.

Answer 3

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Answer 4

You said "opinion," so I'll say every historical performance needs some mods. Wiki suggests some basic concepts: