Piano, Plagiarism, & Personality

Denis Dutton says that the scandal over Joyce Hatto’s years of plagiarized piano recordings reveals much about the problems of objective music criticism. “Music isn’t just about sound; it is about achievement in a larger human sense. If you think an interpretation is by a 74-year-old pianist at the end of her life, it won’t sound quite the same to you as if you think it’s by a 24-year-old piano-competition winner who is just starting out. Beyond all the pretty notes, we want creative engagement and communication from music, we want music to be a bridge to another personality.”