On Hatto

The New Yorker takes notice of the pianistic fraud Joyce Hatto. One of the interesting themes of the article is the degree to which classical-music culture has moved online--and how the same questions of authenticity that bedevil all online productions (from wikis to blogs, including, let's face it, this blog) were at play here.

It also shows how credulous even professionals can be. In classical music, it's all to easy for some to be swayed by an engrossing or sentimental back story into praising the performance. There are some music critics who draw salaries from highly regarded publications who do this kind of thing all the time.

It's also the case in book publishing, of which I have first-hand knowledge, that editors can want so much for a story to be true that they will overlook glaring inconsistencies in, or will fail to do even in this information-accessible age the simplest research of, a proposal or manuscript that they are eager to publish.

Letter from England: Fantasia for Piano: Reporting & Essays: The New Yorker