iTunes, the bane of imposters!
Ever hear of Joyce Hatto? Me, neither–but apparently she was an amazing pianist, with a repertoire that was as stunning as her performances were unforgettable. Well, except nobody actually saw the performances–but they heard about them! And the recordings themselves, distributed on a minor label by her husband (after her death of cancer) were collector’s items, highly prized.
Until the digital age came along:
"Several days ago, another Gramophone critic decided to listen to a Hatto Liszt CD, of the 12 Transcendental Studies. He put the disc into his computer to listen, and something awfully strange happened. His computer’s player identified the disc as, yes, the Liszts, but not a Hatto recording. Instead, his display suggested that the disc was one on BIS Records, by the pianist Lászlo Simon. Mystified, our critic checked his Hatto disc against the actual Simon recording, and to his amazement they sounded exactly the same."
Turns out they were the same. They tested recording after recording, and found that each one was someone else. You can read about it and listen for yourself here.
Aside from the audacity of the man who propagated it, I’m mainly amused by this story because with all the vaunted critics and scholars and hoity-toity classical music afficionados…it was itunes that unmasked the villain!
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