Performing Music in the Age of Recording.(Book Review)

Performing Music in the Age of Recording. By Robert Philip. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2004. [vii, 293 p. ISBN 0-300-10246-1. $35.00.] Music examples, index.

This book is, I believe, the first large-scale study of the relationship between recordings and changes in musical style during the twentieth century. After first examining musical life before the era of recordings, Robert Philip explores various aspects of the recorded experience. These include the changes in instrumental playing style and manner, the influence of composer conducted or composer authorized recordings, various approaches to performance based on local standards, and the effect of the early music explosion in the second half of the twentieth century. Printed music examples indicating changes in the use of portamento and rubato are an interesting addition to the text.

The basic premise of Philip's book is that recordings have not only had an effect on the style of performance but on the actual level of performance standards, and on the expectations of the listener. The first chapter, recounting the life of the musician in the nineteenth century, emphasizes the lack of opportunity to hear not only the great performers of the era but also to hear major musical works as they were intended to be heard. During the nineteenth century and the first part of the twentieth century most people knew the works of Mozart, Beethoven, and others only in arrangements either for keyboard or small ensembles. As interesting as many of these arrangements are, they cannot convey the power and musical interest of a full orchestra performing the same work. The important virtuoso soloists rarely had a chance to hear each other since they were seldom in the same city at the same time. Philip points out that this means that each performer retained their individual style without much influence from other performers.

The heart of the book is the discussion of changes in style and performance practice of instrumentalists. By comparing performances by the same conductor with different orchestras and those by one orchestra under different conductors, Philip gives the reader a fascinating look at how great the changes have been in musical performance between the first and second halves of the twentieth century. His comparisons of Arturo Toscanini's performances with the La Scala Orchestra and the NBC Symphony are interesting, but the standards of most opera house orchestras until very recently could never compare with those of a major orchestra, so it is difficult to know how to attribute the differences. It would have been interesting to know his views on the changes that took place in performances with the NBC Symphony of the same work, such as Beethoven's Coriolan Overture that was broadcast in 1938, 1944, 1946, 1949, and 1953. The constancy of conductor and orchestra would allow for a different type of comparison and open up new avenues of discussion. This idea is covered briefly in the discussions of the piano performances of Vladimir Horowitz and Artur Rubinstein, but most of the discussions revolve around the differences between the performances of different performers from different eras.

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