tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6717274106260594383.post6513342893380705905..comments2024-01-10T17:22:13.898-08:00Comments on Mary Kunz Goldman - Music Critic: 'This song sticks in my head'Howard Goldman http://www.blogger.com/profile/11835068305524570405noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6717274106260594383.post-36057134354007975702009-02-26T11:13:00.000-08:002009-02-26T11:13:00.000-08:00Here I go with "rain on the parade" time. The Pro...Here I go with "rain on the parade" time. The Prokofiev piano roll is interesting, but unacceptable as a document of his playing. I worked at QRS for a dozen years and became a close friend of and assistant to the chief arranger Rudy Martin. We both edited for release hand played celebrity rolls and reissues of old Duo-Art and Ampico rolls. Rudy and I both knew how much editing went into them to make them usable. The stories I could tell go beyond the scope of a comment here. For Prokofiev's own playing, I would scroll down in the link to the Suggestion Diabolique, recorded on a 78 rpm disc. It's authentic and his playing sounds secure and rhythmically taut. One of the clues of a problem with supposedly hand played piano rolls is slack rhythm. Tempos can vary between pianos too; tempo controls are not necessarily calibrated identically from one make to another... or one player piano to another. I imagine the modern digital record/ playbacks are a lot more accurate.<BR/><BR/>Piano roll fanatics will hate this. Hope I don't ruin your and Howard's day. Sorry.<BR/><BR/>By the way, I think the young Martha Argerich was the most erotic looking female pianist I ever saw!!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com