This recording was issued in 2005
as the work of Joyce Hatto on CACD 9130-2.
[see postscript]
Izumi Tateno was born in Tokyo in 1936
but seems to have spent much of his
time in Finland. Discs of his currently
in the catalogue include recitals of
de Séverac, Palmgren, Takemitsu and
a record entitled Tango Brasileiro.
A spot of googling finds him billed
to give some recitals in Japan this
year so his career is still continuing.
This long forgotten Debussy disc would
be worth reinstating in the catalogue.
I toyed with the idea of relegating
my discussion of the Hattification angle
to an appendix, but since I first reviewed
the disc believing it a Hatto I really
cannot expect readers to believe that
I shut off all memories of my earlier
reactions and listened as if to a new
set of performances. If the disc is
ever reissued, hopefully another reviewer
will give his independent opinion.
The Hattification aspect is quickly
described. It is a straight rip-off
with no time manipulation but with a
subtle shortening of the spaces between
the pieces. The Hattifiers have noted
that Tateno likes to hold soft final
chords – most of the pieces finish this
way – for as long as possible, letting
them practically die away of their own
accord. By letting such pieces then
run straight into the next the Hattifiers
have succeeded in cutting the original
75:39 down to 75:08. The sound picture
has been modified somewhat. The original
had a warm sound that was sometimes
a shade too full-toned for the music.
This has been rendered a little more
delicate and diaphanous, to the advantage
of some of the softer preludes but robbing
“Ce qu’a vu le vent d’ouest” of its
full power. Tateno himself, or his engineers
– producers and engineers are different
for the two books – creates a more delicate
sound picture in most of the second
book and here the changes are less noticeable,
though the Hattifiers have succeeded
in toning down the rather too exuberant
“Les tierces alternées”.
The changed sound picture of the “Hatto”
slightly attenuated the one reservation
I have about Tateno’s playing. I don’t
seem to have noticed before, but now
and then in the first book, one note
in a phrase comes a little louder than
those on either side of it. This seems
to me not an interpretative point but
a problem of pianistic control. I don’t
want to suggest it happens too often
but it struck me enough to make me feel
I should mention it. This same problem
is practically absent from the second
book, so maybe Tateno noticed this too
and worked to correct it. You may be
thinking, if I didn’t notice these things
before, am I quite sure these are really
the “Hatto” performances. Yes, if you
actually listen for these points they
are all present, and they are among
the means I used to check the identification.
It’s just that the gentler sound picture
makes them a little less evident.
In one respect the rip-off was originally
too straight, for the Tateno “Bruyères”
begins with an editing error thanks
to which the first two notes are played
twice. The “Hatto”, as originally sent
to me for review, contained this false
start – did the Hattifiers really not
know that the music doesn’t begin like
this? It was hastily corrected after
the first version of my review pointed
out the error – this is all documented
in “Joyce Hatto – some thoughts, some
questions and a lot of letters” but
for convenience I reproduce the relevant
section as an appendix below. I understand
that six of the Préludes, including
“Bruyères” with the redundant notes,
were also issued on a “Hatto” CD mainly
dedicated to Franck.
In spite of the occasional passage that
is played too loudly, and the reservation
made above, a hearing of the original
Tateno disc only confirmed that I love
these performances more than most others.
There is a sort of golden light that
hovers over the playing, and the different
sound doesn’t really alter it. Tateno
is an unaffected interpreter who invariably
hits on the right tempo and mood of
each piece.
Since I recently praised the Thiollier
set on Naxos,
I posed myself the question: if somebody
were to reissue Tateno at a comparable
price, which would I prefer?
Thiollier is a more personable, excitable
interpreter, often recapturing the volatility
of the famous Gieseking set. His do-it-yourself
approach was not welcome everywhere
in his complete Debussy cycle but the
Préludes found him at his best. In the
first two pieces there is a magic in
his fingers that I don’t quite find
in Tateno. On the other hand he can
be disruptive in pieces that need to
dance or lilt, such as “Les collines
d’Anacri” or “La sérénade interrompue”
and here I prefer Tateno. Perhaps by
a very small margin I would tend towards
Tateno, whose set seems to remain in
the mind as more than the sum of its
parts. If it were possible to buy the
two at a price lower than a single full
price version, I would recommend this
as a good way of getting a three-dimensional
view of the music. But I wonder how
Tateno would play it today?
Here, then, is the original review:
Timings are not everything, but the
75:08 of this disc already tells us
something. Looking at the other CD versions
I have to hand, I find they spread to
two discs with timings as follows: Gifford
81:33, Fou T’Song 84:33, Antonioli 87:31.
Fishing around further, I find that
a few other versions are on one disc,
though all are longer than Joyce Hatto,
but two discs seem to be the norm. These
timings are from "Gramophone",
which rounds them to the nearest minute:
Rogé 78, Tirimo 78, Martin Jones 79,
Tan 83, Zimerman 84, Cassard 85. However,
there is one recording that is faster
than Hatto’s, and it is a very important
one, that by Walter Gieseking: 70:20.
The fact that the modern norm is
around ten minutes longer than Gieseking
should surely be sounding warning bells
in certain quarters, for was not Gieseking
the supreme interpreter of this music?
If his performances were so fine, and
so apparently authentic, is it not a
little odd that everybody plays the
music differently? Furthermore, in all
the comment I have seen on these famous
recordings, I have never seen it suggested
that the great man’s tempi were over-swift,
and it would indeed be difficult to
think such a thing, so perfectly poised
are they even at their most volatile.
Of course, overall timings tell us very
little about what happens along the
way, so my next observation was that
Hatto is consistently faster than her
modern competitors – whether in slow
pieces, moderate ones or fast ones –
with very, very few exceptions. Whereas,
in comparison with Gieseking, the situation
is more complex. In a number of pieces
– the first, for example – he is slower,
while he is more volatile in a number
of the faster pieces. But even individual
timings don’t tell us everything. Gieseking
has a slower basic tempo than Hatto
in "Les sons et les parfums",
yet on account of his volatility when
Debussy asks for "En animant",
he actually comes up with a shorter
timing. This raises the point that,
if we are to believe Debussy’s metronome
markings, even Gieseking’s tempi are
sometimes sedate. Obviously a metronome
is a poor guide to music that is peppered
with such instructions as "Plus
lent", "En animant",
"Cédez", "Rubato",
"Serrez", all these in the
space of just two lines in "Les
sons et les parfums", and which
obviously demands flexibility even where
nothing is marked. Yet if you play the
first eight bars of this same prelude
at the marked tempo (the first tempo
change is at bar 9), the music seems
radically different from what we usually
hear, almost another piece entirely,
Debussy’s "Modéré" emerging
as a lilting Allegretto. Hatto has more
of this "Allegretto" quality
than Gieseking, let alone anyone else
I’ve ever heard. So, if she is faster
than any modern rival (that I know),
it is because she is closer to what
Debussy wrote. Gieseking has shorter
timings still because of his more radical
reaction to some of the internal tempo
changes. Since Debussy gave no metronome
marks for internal tempo changes, we
shall never know how drastic he intended
them to be, though we do have a piano
roll where he interprets "Un peu
moins lent" in "La Cathédrale
engloutie" as a virtual doubling
of the tempo.
Does Hatto sound fast? The interesting
thing is that she does not; the performances
have an autumnal glow, thanks to her
technical ease (Gieseking has his adventurous
moments) and warm, limpid sound, very
finely recorded, while not lacking in
either vitality or humour where called
for. She seems to find a just solution,
musically and poetically, to each prelude.
But perhaps I should declare an interest,
since I find I have a wretchedly recorded
tape of myself playing these preludes
around fifteen years ago with timings
that often match Hatto’s to a few seconds.
Which is not to say I played them equally
well (I’m sure I didn’t!), but the fact
that so many of the pieces emerged here
sounding much as they sound in my head
whenever I think of them may make me
suspect as a reviewer. Perhaps we’ve
both got it wrong! And yet I honestly
believe that, if you play what Debussy
wrote, the result is bound to be something
like what we hear on this disc. To say
that this is the most recommendable
of the modern versions that I know becomes
superfluous when many of the others
don’t play Debussy’s preludes at all
but something else of their own invention.
And yet, I have to say that Gieseking
is something else again (and so is the
legendary Guido Agosti in a handful
of preludes on Aura). I have used the
word "volatile" several times
and this is the quality of those performances
that I most remember for, while his
starting point is the Olympian calm
and poise for which he was famed, he
lives dangerously, his Puck and his
Ondine darting hither and thither, his
ocean seething and reeling in "Ce
qu’a vu le vent d’ouest". I have
heard Hatto get outside herself and
play with this sort of inspiration sometimes
in Liszt, and her Islamey (Balakirev)
is hair-raising; more often it is her
calm musicianship and sense of style
which impress, as they do here. Don’t
miss Gieseking, but Hatto has a relaxed,
sunlit quality, pure Monet, that has
its own attraction.
I realize that it’s getting a little
embarrassing that this site continues
to churn out glowing review after glowing
review (not only from me) of Joyce Hatto’s
records while other magazines and sites,
despise Concert Artist as a cottage
industry and do not review the discs
at all. I almost wish she would make
a really bad disc just so I can show
I know how to listen. But so far she
hasn’t … If any reader who buys this
or other Hatto discs on the strength
of our reviews feels he has been duped,
remember we have a bulletin board. I
should very much like to know why only
we are pushing these recordings.
I was tempted to eliminate that last
paragraph. I include it because I have
received a private query, namely, did
I write it at my own initiative or did
Len Mullenger ask me to write something
of the kind? So I take the opportunity
to state that I have NEVER been asked
to express or not express an opinion,
whether by Len Mullenger or by the classical
editor, Rob Barnett.
Appendix
An extract from “Joyce Hatto, some thoughts,
some questions and a lot of letters”
with an exchange of correspondence concerning
the Debussy Préludes.
I was sent a preliminary pressing
in which the first two notes of "Bruyères"
were played twice. After submitting
my review – in which I mentioned this
– I was told that Barrington-Coupe was
sending me a corrected copy immediately
and would I amend the review as soon
as I had heard it. The review was duly
held over until the corrected copy arrived.
When it hit the doormat I noted that,
apart from having the offending two
notes removed, the final copy had a
completely different sound and some
different timings. Somewhat puzzled,
I wrote as follows:
Sent: Thursday, October
27, 2005 1:06 PM
Subject: Re: Debussy
Dear Mr. Barrington-Coupe,
I was about to make just a few minor
changes to my review of the Debussy
Preludes when I noted that the final
version has different timings for almost
every piece compared with the test pressing,
just a few seconds but amounting to
over a minute overall. Are some of the
performances different? In which case
I will have to listen to the whole disc
again, not just the pieces that had
to be corrected. Taking Les fées sont
d'exquises danseuses as an example,
I found the new pressing much clearer
(if a little less warm?), sufficiently
different for it to sound like a different
performance, though I couldn't quite
decide whether it actually was. I'm
sorry if the review of this disc is
getting held up, but I wonder if you
could clear these points?
Yours sincerely,
Christopher Howell
And received the following reply:
Dear Mr. Howell,
You are quite right there were some
items that JH changed takes. Pretty
well all the twenty-four preludes are
single take performances and all date
from the original sessions. "Les
fées" was a second choice
as Joyce felt that the original sounded
"a bit like Cossacks" than
anything else! She exaggerated
of course but quite funny. That is privileged
information! [In view of the way I have
been duped, if not in this case then
certainly in others, I do not feel bound
by this]. But it will make you smile. The
whole cd was completely remastered and
some of the pauses between tracks were
reduced very slightly. Joyce had a long
conversation with Malcuzynski about
the Debussy Preludes and they exchanged
thoughts on what Paderewsky [sic!] had
told him and what Cortot told her. Paderewsky
slower and Cortot faster! Malcuzynski
was planning to record the complete
Debussy Preludes himself and had come
to the same conclusion as Joyce
that Gieseking was right in his tempi
and that was the right tradition to follow.
He never did record the 24 but
there are some "tapes" of
other Preludes around that have not
been published. He did understand the
music.
Did you see, by any chance, the article
written by Richard Dyer in the Boston
Globe on Joyce six weeks, or so ago?
You might like to read it over your
morning coffee and I will send it to
you if it would be of interest. He had
a two hour telephone interview with
her and the article has created some
considerable interest in Amnerica. As
you seem to like your pianists when
they are firing broadsides (who doesn't)
I have included in the next parcel a
studio copy of the Petrushka master
[I never got it]. The final cd to be
issued will also contain the Firebird
(Agosti) [where on earth was he going
to pinch that, or did she really record
it?] and a few other Russian delights.
Both were recorded a few years back
but the sound is pretty good 21st Century
standard. In her note to accompany the
cd J.H.writes "After hearing
Youra Guller play the Stravinsky I didn't
feel inclined to compete in the Petrushka
Stakes but put a few more years working
on it."
I should point out that the original
performances of the Debussy would not
have been changed but for the technical
malfunction of the original master.
I hope all this has not been a bore but
you do like backgrounds.
With very best wishes,
W.H.Barrington-Coupe
Concert Artist Recordings
If this is all pure invention it
has been thought through very carefully.
In view of the improbability of a disc
on the market – and up for copying –
containing such an editing error, it
looks as if this, too, may have actually
been made by Concert Artist.
But just supposing there is a version
on the market with this editing error
… You can imagine B-C’s dismay when
he read my review and realized that,
of all the versions to plunder, he had
chosen one that stuck out like a sore
thumb. You can imagine why he wanted
the review held over, rather than published
and amended later on. Anyone reading
about those two extra notes might have
thought: "Funny, there’s a version
in my collection where the first two
notes of ‘Bruyères’ are played twice,
but the pianist’s not Hatto". Hence,
perhaps, the additional fiddling about
to make it sound less like the original.
Anyone who knows of a version of Debussy’s
Préludes with this anomaly is urged
to contact Len Mullenger immediately.
Well, so there really was a version
in some people’s collections where the
first two notes of Bruyères are played
twice.
Christopher Howell
Postscript:
Alas, as
reported in the Wall Street Journal
of 12 November 2007 , though Tateno’s
career continues, his latest thoughts
on the Debussy Préludes are unlikely
to be forthcoming. During a concert
in 2002 he suffered a stroke which deprived
him of the use of his right hand. At
first he resisted suggestions that he
should take up the left hand repertoire
– it sounded too much like giving in
– but from 2003 he resumed his career
as a left-handed pianist, even commissioning
new works to add to this already quite
considerable repertoire.
An inspiring story
of a pianist triumphing over adversity
… and a year later one of his recordings
was stolen to bolster up a fake story
of another pianist triumphing over adversity.
We cannot be definitely
sure that the fraudster couple knew
this back story. But the odds are that
we have a particularly repulsive example
of their unscrupulous profiteering.
Izumi Tateno (piano)
