artistry_vs_technical_mastery Young Fogey I was listening to Brahms intermezzi on YouTube today and I was dismayed to find that most performers seem more focused on speed than style. I don't listen to Brahms for its virtuosic feats; it is the pathos that draws me. Reading the comments, however, indicates I'm a minority. Almost everyone seems dazzled by the fast-fingering, as though it were for that purpose the pieces were written. I'm not saying the pieces are supposed to mean this or that - who knows what any given composer meant? - but surely tempo isn't the only major factor in a good performance! Sometimes I think the reason classical music has fallen from grace is because it has become too focused on competitivity, at the expense of artistry. Music is an art that spans time, not a race to the finish. More and more, however, I'd think it were the opposite, in pieces ranging from Bach to Brahms to Boulez (not that I've ever cared much for Boulez). Certainly some pieces call for speed as the main focus - these are usually marked presto - but too often the subtleties of a work are lost when haste becomes the dominant force in performance. I already noted that it isn't only with Brahms, but perhaps I find this disparity most pronounced in his works. Here Brahms has cooked up a gourmet dish, spiced to perfection; like children, or Prussian hordes, performers gobble up the dish and only experience the carefully-constructed aftertastes in the form of a belch. Even without a sustain pedal, the notes of a piano take times to permeate the air. Rushing harmonically-complex works is so very, very similar to holding the sustain-pedal throughout an entire Beethoven sonata without break. Not everything is marked "presto". It reinforces the idea that our age sees humans as mere machines, and not as works of art. Fast, technically flawless performances win out over artistic splendor. "How fast can you play it?" is not the same as "How technically-perfectly can you play it?" is not the same as "How well can you play it?" These perfect-but-empty performances remind me of the McMansions of the American suburbs: their architecture is stunning but the hearts residing within them are stunted. 071217 ... unhinged . i have always preferred slow movements. brahms slow movements being some of my absolute favorites. 071218 what's it to you? who go blather from