Classical

This is a really bizarre story. Masterpieces Or Fakes? The Joyce Hatto Scandal It was already one of the strangest stories the classical music world had witnessed. But the discovery of the late English pianist Joyce Hatto as the greatest instrumentalist almost nobody had heard of, appears to have taken a bizarre, even potentially sinister turn. Joyce Hatto - The Ultimate Recording Hoax - Part 1 See and hear for yourself the incontrovertable evidence of an audacious recording hoax. Here we examine a track from the above CD, released under the name of 'Joyce Hatto', but containing 10 tracks originally released in 1987 and played by Simon Laszlo on a BIS CD.

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Topic Outline

* RE: Joyce Hatto hoax..! posted by mlstein on Feb 17 at 1:12 PM EST   * RE: Joyce Hatto hoax..! posted by bissie on Feb 18 at 12:45 PM EST     * RE: Joyce Hatto hoax..! posted by CCRGMac on Feb 18 at 2:30 PM EST       * RE: Joyce Hatto hoax..! posted by bissie on Feb 19 at 12:43 PM EST         * RE: Joyce Hatto hoax..! posted by Music Lover on Feb 19 at 5:03 PM EST           * RE: Joyce Hatto hoax..! posted by CCRGMac on Feb 19 at 8:12 PM EST         * RE: Joyce Hatto hoax..! posted by EverythingFusion on Mar 4 at 11:56 PM EST * RE: Joyce Hatto hoax..! posted by Music Lover on Feb 17 at 3:37 PM EST   * RE: Joyce Hatto hoax..! posted by Porieux on Feb 18 at 4:54 AM EST * RE: Joyce Hatto hoax..! posted by Nereffid on Feb 18 at 5:07 AM EST * RE: Joyce Hatto hoax..! posted by Music Lover on Feb 19 at 3:47 PM EST * RE: Joyce Hatto hoax..! posted by Music Lover on Feb 20 at 3:51 PM EST   * RE: Joyce Hatto hoax..! posted by Porieux on Feb 19 at 4:47 PM EST     * RE: Joyce Hatto hoax..! posted by Music Lover on Feb 20 at 3:53 PM EST * RE: Joyce Hatto hoax..! posted by qwynwyn on Feb 19 at 1:00 PM EST * RE: Joyce Hatto hoax..! posted by Music Lover on Feb 20 at 3:48 PM EST   * RE: Joyce Hatto hoax..! posted by Nereffid on Feb 20 at 6:21 PM EST     * RE: Joyce Hatto hoax..! posted by Nereffid on Feb 25 at 5:11 PM EST       * RE: Joyce Hatto hoax..! posted by Music Lover on Feb 26 at 8:33 AM EST         * RE: Joyce Hatto hoax..! posted by berryb on Feb 26 at 1:00 PM EST           * RE: Joyce Hatto hoax..! posted by Music Lover on Feb 26 at 1:42 PM EST             * RE: Joyce Hatto hoax..! posted by Nereffid on Feb 26 at 6:43 PM EST           * RE: Joyce Hatto hoax..! posted by Porieux on Feb 26 at 10:06 PM EST             * RE: Joyce Hatto hoax..! posted by Music Lover on Feb 27 at 8:38 AM EST               * RE: Joyce Hatto hoax..! posted by KristiMyers on Feb 27 at 10:57 PM EST       * RE: Joyce Hatto hoax..! posted by Music Lover on Feb 26 at 12:05 PM EST * RE: Joyce Hatto hoax..! posted by JFLL on Feb 20 at 4:39 AM EST * RE: Joyce Hatto hoax..! posted by Music Lover on Feb 20 at 9:04 AM EST * RE: Joyce Hatto hoax..! posted by Music Lover on Feb 20 at 3:48 PM EST * RE: Joyce Hatto hoax..! posted by Music Lover on Feb 20 at 1:51 PM EST   * RE: Joyce Hatto hoax..! posted by Music Lover on Feb 20 at 3:50 PM EST * RE: Joyce Hatto hoax..! posted by qwynwyn on Feb 20 at 2:44 PM EST   * RE: Joyce Hatto hoax..! posted by Music Lover on Feb 20 at 3:43 PM EST     * RE: Joyce Hatto hoax..! posted by qwynwyn on Feb 20 at 3:56 PM EST       * RE: Joyce Hatto hoax..! posted by Music Lover on Feb 20 at 3:49 PM EST         * previous board persona posted by 68stationwagon on Feb 20 at 6:11 PM EST           * RE: previous board persona posted by Porieux on Feb 21 at 7:54 AM EST             * porieux eh! eh! posted by 68stationwagon on Feb 21 at 12:33 PM EST               * RE: porieux eh! eh! posted by Music Lover on Feb 25 at 4:42 PM EST                 * RE: porieux eh! eh! posted by JFLL on Feb 26 at 7:07 AM EST * RE: Joyce Hatto hoax..! posted by Music Lover on Feb 21 at 12:29 PM EST   * RE: Joyce Hatto hoax..! posted by Music Lover on Feb 21 at 12:32 PM EST   * RE: Joyce Hatto hoax..! posted by JMac on Feb 27 at 11:28 PM EST     * RE: Joyce Hatto hoax..! posted by Porieux on Feb 28 at 6:44 PM EST       * RE: Joyce Hatto hoax..! posted by Music Lover on Mar 1 at 8:35 AM EST         * RE: Joyce Hatto hoax..! posted by Music Lover on Mar 1 at 11:49 AM EST           * RE: Joyce Hatto hoax..! posted by Nereffid on Mar 1 at 12:15 PM EST             * RE: Joyce Hatto hoax..! posted by berryb on Mar 1 at 1:18 PM EST               * RE: Joyce Hatto hoax..! posted by Nereffid on Mar 1 at 3:37 PM EST         * RE: Joyce Hatto hoax..! posted by Porieux on Mar 1 at 4:29 PM EST           * RE: Joyce Hatto hoax..! posted by Music Lover on Mar 1 at 5:52 PM EST             * RE: Joyce Hatto hoax..! posted by Porieux on Mar 2 at 3:36 AM EST               * Letters from Hatto posted by Music Lover on Mar 2 at 12:40 PM EST                 * RE: Letters from Hatto posted by qwynwyn on Mar 2 at 6:29 PM EST               * RE: Joyce Hatto hoax..! posted by Music Lover on Mar 4 at 3:24 PM EST * RE: Joyce Hatto hoax..! posted by Gatton`` on Mar 2 at 10:51 AM EST * RE: Joyce Hatto hoax..! posted by Gatton`` on Mar 4 at 6:50 AM EST * RE: Joyce Hatto hoax..! posted by Music Lover on Mar 5 at 8:37 AM EST * RE: Joyce Hatto hoax..! posted by Nereffid on Apr 26 at 9:08 AM EDT

mlstein Feb 17 at 1:12 PM EST

RE: Joyce Hatto hoax..!

in direct response to the topic by Porieux Fascinating and depressing. Thanks for linking these.

Music Lover Feb 17 at 3:37 PM EST

RE: Joyce Hatto hoax..!

in direct response to the topic by Porieux Porieux, Thanks for the links. Very interesting story. More coverage

Porieux Feb 18 at 4:54 AM EST

RE: Joyce Hatto hoax..!

in response to the message by Music Lover Good article. This is funny: [quote]These doubts prompted Nicholas to write a letter to Gramophone last July asking for evidence of possible fraud. "No one came forth," he said. This past week, Jed Distler, a composer and music critic who was among Hatto's admirers, contacted Inverne with a strange story. When he put Hatto's Liszt recording into his computer, Inverne recounted, "his iTunes player identified the disc as, yes, the Liszts, but not a Hatto recording." Instead, it identified Simon as the performer.[/quote] iTunes uncovered the hoax! Bizarre.

Nereffid Feb 18 at 5:07 AM EST

RE: Joyce Hatto hoax..!

in direct response to the topic by Porieux So it was that easy. The "Hatto" Liszt is available on eMusic: Laszlo Simon and Minoru Nojima Bryce Morrison's review on Gramophone makes tragicomic reading now. But does this mean Laszlo Simon is now officially one of the great Liszt performers?

bissie Feb 18 at 12:45 PM EST

RE: Joyce Hatto hoax..!

in response to the message by mlstein If you have REALLY plenty of time, you can follow it here: http://groups.google.com.sg/group/rec.music.classical.recordings/browse_thread/thread/0fd12f2842f2f53c/59c153f80c58c361 Personally, I feel a great pity for the involved, in spite of being one of the involuntary "suppliers" to Ms. Hatto's discography. As the CD:s are supposedly hard to find, money cannot really have been the object, which leaves the door open to rather more humane reasons, however misdirected. Good afternoon, evening, and night... Robert

CCRGMac Feb 18 at 2:30 PM EST

RE: Joyce Hatto hoax..!

in response to the message by bissie Thanks again or your viewpoint Robert, it is indeed an extraordinary tale. One can't held but wonder if Joyce even knew what her husband was up to (though he doesn't seem to admit anything at this point). I haven't read the thread above, but I'd be interested to know how the reviewers are taking this, especially to see if the praise heaped on Hatto is now transferred to the original performers.

bissie Feb 19 at 12:43 PM EST

RE: Joyce Hatto hoax..!

in response to the message by CCRGMac Yes, that remains to be seen, and therefore I had better come clean at once: As a matter of fact, there was no László Simon - or so I thought. I recorded those Transcendental Etudes myself but, not wanting to appear in person on my label, according to my apparent modesty, I invented LS. You have no idea how flabbergasted I was, when it turned out that there does exist one pianist László Simon. So we're talking about a triple hoax here and I am of course very proud of the accolades that have been heaped over my reading - that is, if indeed it is my reading. Having found out about the living pianist LS, I didn't really feel I had any choice but to let him record the Etudes as well, and what do you know - they came out e-x-a-c-t-l-y like mine, down to the smallest sound-wave. Talk about coincidences. I cannot now for the life of me remember which pressing is which, and, basically, it doesn't matter. However, in order to enjoy my just fame, I have just applied for a name-change, to Rejoice von Hatto Best - Robert (as long as it lasts)

Music Lover Feb 19 at 3:47 PM EST

RE: Joyce Hatto hoax..!

in direct response to the topic by Porieux Duplicate post due to emusic glitch in the change process apparently) removed. Please see post below this one.

Music Lover Feb 20 at 3:51 PM EST

RE: Joyce Hatto hoax..!

in direct response to the topic by Porieux When doing a Google search for any entries for "Rene Kohler" and the National Phiharmonic Symphony without "Hatto" I only got one hit which has no current content but has cached content: ( this cached page.) Does this mean that this recording of Sergio Fiorentino with the National Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra is also suspect or does it mean there really is a René Köhler? (Sergio Fiorentino is also on the same "Concert Artists" label as Joyce Hatto.) Here is some interesting biographical material on Joyce Hatto with René Köhler mentioned(4th paragraph down) and Sergio Fiorentino mentioned (2nd paragraph): here Addtional links: http://www.concertartistrecordings.com/ http://www.concertartistrecordings.com/FeaturedArtists/sergiofiorentino.htm

qwynwyn Feb 19 at 1:00 PM EST

RE: Joyce Hatto hoax..!

in direct response to the topic by Porieux wow! this is quite a bizarre story! even to someone like me who doesn't follow the classical scene much.

Music Lover Feb 20 at 3:48 PM EST

RE: Joyce Hatto hoax..!

in direct response to the topic by Porieux In the context of all this recent knowledge, this becomes a particularly fascinating review -- who really is the pianist that outperforms Hamelin?

Porieux Feb 19 at 4:47 PM EST

RE: Joyce Hatto hoax..!

in response to the message by Music Lover Interesting bit of research there, Music Lover. Personally I would consider anything published on the Concert Artist label to be suspect at this point.

Music Lover Feb 20 at 3:53 PM EST

RE: Joyce Hatto hoax..!

in response to the message by Porieux Porieux, Thanks! Yes, agree anything is suspect -- earlier read on the google message board (link provided above by bissie) that someone is questioning an Alfred Cortot release out on Concert Artist (link to Cortot on that label: http://www.concertartistrecordings.com/cortot-edition.htm) If they are releasing "new findings" of Cortot, as indicated by their "In Preparation" notation, it becomes fascinating to speculate where they will be found. Perhaps they need to change "series includes many items not otherwise available" to "series includes many items not otherwise available under the Cortot name." Or maybe some of what they do is on the up and up -- but it raises the question of whether this is isolated to Hatto recordings or is a production strategy of the label itself.... Perhaps if they had been left alone we would see newly found recordings by other legendary pianists -- maybe even recordings by Brahms, Liszt and Chopin. :-)

Music Lover Feb 19 at 5:03 PM EST

RE: Joyce Hatto hoax..!

in response to the message by bissie "As a matter of fact, there was no László Simon..." LOL! Very funny post, Robert! Great sense of humor!

CCRGMac Feb 19 at 8:12 PM EST

RE: Joyce Hatto hoax..!

in response to the message by Music Lover Agreed. 88 keys or 102, the man has talent.

JFLL Feb 20 at 4:39 AM EST

RE: Joyce Hatto hoax..!

in direct response to the topic by Porieux You know, when our righteous moral indignation has cooled a bit, this will provide fun for months or years, because every single Concert Artist recording will now be examined in an endless "Spot the Real Performer" game. The race is on for who can incontrovertibly identify the most names! Maybe someone will release a compilation album called "The Best of Hatto (Not)".

Music Lover Feb 20 at 9:04 AM EST

RE: Joyce Hatto hoax..!

in direct response to the topic by Porieux Philadelphia Inquirer article NY Times London times Internet users email "matches" to pristineclassical

Music Lover Feb 20 at 3:48 PM EST

RE: Joyce Hatto hoax..!

in direct response to the topic by Porieux really good "pre-discovery" boston globe article where Richard Dyer meets/interviews Hatto and Barrington-Coupe. Please note the reference to Sergio Fiorentino -- this reference along with reviews, etc. like this one http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2004/Jan04/Chopin_Mazurkas.htm leads me to suspect that the Concert Artist Sergio Fiorentino recordings should also be scrutinized. By the way, MusicWeb has suspended sales of all Concert Artist CDs: http://www.musicweb-international.com/Concert_Artist/Index.htm

Music Lover Feb 20 at 1:51 PM EST

RE: Joyce Hatto hoax..!

in direct response to the topic by Porieux Interesting album of the month review. Jonathan Woolf who is mentioned as the author of the liner notes also wrote several reviews of the Hatto albums such as this review . Joyce Hatto bio at the bach-cantatas site with additional links at bottom of bio.

qwynwyn Feb 20 at 2:44 PM EST

RE: Joyce Hatto hoax..!

in direct response to the topic by Porieux ML, is it possible to fix the post with the really long urls? it's messing up my screen....

Music Lover Feb 20 at 3:43 PM EST

RE: Joyce Hatto hoax..!

in response to the message by qwynwyn ML, is it possible to fix the post with the really long urls? it's messing up my screen.... Looks fine on my PC (maybe because I am on Internet Explorer?) -- can't use Firefox here at work -- will try to take a stab at changing the longest ones, and hope that helps.

Music Lover Feb 20 at 3:50 PM EST

RE: Joyce Hatto hoax..!

in response to the message by Music Lover Of the links at the bach-cantats site, this one is particularly fascinating.

qwynwyn Feb 20 at 3:56 PM EST

RE: Joyce Hatto hoax..!

in response to the message by Music Lover hey ML - you're right - my screen is messed up on firefox but not on internet explorer. no worries either way. :o) edit: hey ML - screen looks good in firefox. thanky!

Music Lover Feb 20 at 3:49 PM EST

RE: Joyce Hatto hoax..!

in response to the message by qwynwyn qwynwyn, I think they are fixed now -- please take a look at Firefox and see if they are now okay.

68stationwagon Feb 20 at 6:11 PM EST

previous board persona

in response to the message by Music Lover well, i guess it's ok to come out and admit that i was joyce hatto in a previous iteration of the emu boards. 68 former high minister of blessedness formerly joyce hatto and never any fun p.s. porieux: metal?

Nereffid Feb 20 at 6:21 PM EST

RE: Joyce Hatto hoax..!

in response to the message by Music Lover Somebody's regularly updating Wikipedia's Hatto entry, so you can keep track of what's being uncovered (unless, of course, the Wikipedia information is a hoax...). The Dukas was apparently primarily Tor Espen Aspaas. As for Marc-Andre Hamelin, he shows up on the "Hatto" Godowsky Etudes. Another entry for the "build your own Hatto collection" on eMusic: Chen Pi-hsien plays Bach's Goldberg variations. There's also apparently a piece by Anton Rubinstein on Marco Polo but I haven't worked out which disc it's on.

Porieux Feb 21 at 7:54 AM EST

RE: previous board persona

in response to the message by 68stationwagon There are nine things I think of when I hear the name "Joyce Hatto": rigid, percussive, precise, refined, traditional, complexity, brutality, 68 and Florida.

Music Lover Feb 21 at 12:29 PM EST

RE: Joyce Hatto hoax..!

in direct response to the topic by Porieux Response from husband classics today provides Jed Distler's version and provides the first mention I have seen (besides my earlier post here)of Sergio Fiorentino releases by Classical Artist perhaps being suspect. This classicstoday article seem to present the actual facts of how the discovery started. Also included is this quote, another indication of what a cool person Mr. BIS is: "Robert von Bahr of BIS records captured the human dimension very sensitively when he told me: 'If it is his love for his wife that was the reason behind this, I for one am not inclined to press charges.'"

Music Lover Feb 21 at 12:32 PM EST

RE: Joyce Hatto hoax..!

in response to the message by Music Lover classicstoday review digest for Joyce Hatto.

68stationwagon Feb 21 at 12:33 PM EST

porieux eh! eh!

in response to the message by Porieux that might be one of the best responses i have ever rec'd. wonderful memory! eh! eh! 68

Music Lover Feb 25 at 4:42 PM EST

RE: porieux eh! eh!

in response to the message by 68stationwagon well written article Article with interesting anecdote: "I recall an incident a few years back when a local critic was sent to an orchestra concert in which a piano concerto by Franz Xaver Mozart -- Mozart’s son -- was to be performed. He is a minor composer, of course, and that critic was apparently primed not to like what he heard. Only, instead of performing the concerto by Franz Xaver Mozart, the orchestra and soloist substituted Mozart’s “Coronation” Concerto. The critic didn’t know it though, because somehow he didn’t get the program insert. His review took what he thought to be the Franz Xaver Mozart concerto to task for ripping off Beethoven and for its general lack of inspiration, etc. The critic had not only not recognized the “Coronation” Concerto, he hadn’t recognized quality. Oops."

Nereffid Feb 25 at 5:11 PM EST

RE: Joyce Hatto hoax..!

in response to the message by Nereffid More Hatto on eMusic, according to the latest info on Wikipedia: Ian Hobson plays Godowsky's Chopin Etudes - a couple of these were used on the Hatto disc. Debussy's Etudes and Hommage a Haydn were actually performed by Francois-Joel Thiollier. The Anton Rubinstein disc I mentioned before is this one performed by Josef Banowetz. Apparently the last track (Scherzo) showed up on a Hatto disc. The official statement from our pal Bissie is here.

JFLL Feb 26 at 7:07 AM EST

RE: porieux eh! eh!

in response to the message by Music Lover I remember that critics used to be rather sniffy about the Coronation Concerto, despite its late Kochel number, when I first fell madly in love with the Mozart Pno Concertos in the mid-1960s. (Maybe they still are?) It's only in the last few years that I've gone back to it and enjoyed it. OK, its not up there with the really great ones (nos 24 and 25) or even the great ones (no. 9 and everything else from no. 14 onwards) but it's full of wonderful recognizably Mozartean touches. Maybe I'm just getting less critical in my old age! (I'd prefer to say more broad-minded.)

Music Lover Feb 26 at 8:33 AM EST

RE: Joyce Hatto hoax..!

in response to the message by Nereffid "The official statement from our pal Bissie is here." Thanks, Nereffid -- as usual, Mr. Bissie is a very classy person.

Music Lover Feb 26 at 12:05 PM EST

RE: Joyce Hatto hoax..!

in response to the message by Nereffid Nerrefid, Have included these 5 albums you mention so far and a couple of others on the list Every "bit" as good as Joyce Hatto

berryb Feb 26 at 1:00 PM EST

RE: Joyce Hatto hoax..!

in response to the message by Music Lover The plot reaches its stage of unraveling: http://www.gramophone.co.uk/newsMainTemplate.asp?storyID=2765&newssectionID=1

Music Lover Feb 26 at 1:42 PM EST

RE: Joyce Hatto hoax..!

in response to the message by berryb William Barrington-Coupe's explanation seems suspect. How does this explain the recordings with orchestra? If he was just replacing passages, why are entire tracks borrowed rather than 8 to 16 bar passages? Did Rene Kohler exist? If not, than entire recordings could only be substituted for the recordings with orchestra and not just passages. What about Sergio Fiorentino's recording of Gershwin with Rene Kohler (which appears to be no longer available?)

Nereffid Feb 26 at 6:43 PM EST

RE: Joyce Hatto hoax..!

in response to the message by Music Lover The Rene Kohler situation is complicated... there's no conductor by that name but it is possible (probable?) that the Fiorentino recording is genuine, with Rene Kohler being a pseudonym for some moonlighting conductor. (Incidentally, Point Classics here on emusic has a lot of stuff conducted by "Albert Lizzio", which is a pseudonym). Thanks for the credit on your Hatto list, Music Lover (love the title!), although in the interests of full disclosure I should clarify that my "research" consisted entirely of reading the Hatto article on Wikipedia. Speaking of which, here's a couple more: The last track on a disc of Falla's piano music by Miguel Baselga, and some of this Scarlatti disc by Balazs Szokolay.

Porieux Feb 26 at 10:06 PM EST

RE: Joyce Hatto hoax..!

in response to the message by berryb Wow. Sounds like Barrington-Coupe is in backpedal mode. Frankly his story comes across more as damage control than as a sincere confession. If he was really doing it for his wife he wouldn't have continued after she was gone. And this whole thing about replacing certain sections is just laughable; as if that would even be remotely possible. The fact that he still isn't being fully honest removes any doubts as to the purity of his motivations, in my humble opinion. One of the more damning things to come out of this though, IMO, is that Gramophone gave some of these recordings a '10' for audio quality, despite the fact that they were ripped from a commercial CD, manipulated by timestretching, and who knows what else. Timestretching causes very obvious artifacts, and this is not an area where the reviewers will be able to plead ignorance that they were 'fooled'; frankly the reviewers have some explaining to do in that regard. On the other hand, there isn't really anything they could say that would excuse this.

Music Lover Feb 27 at 8:38 AM EST

RE: Joyce Hatto hoax..!

in response to the message by Porieux Nerrefid, Thanks! Will add when I get a chance. Porieux, Agree - Barrington-Coupe does not seem to be coming completely clean. If, as he claims, he was originally replaced one small fraction of a passage with a commercial recording fragment because of coughing, then why didn't he just have Ms. Hatto perform the work another time and borrow from that as other engineers do all too often. (And clearly jsut replacing a portion of a track is not what he did in any known "borrowings" -- he replaced the entire track or even the entire album leaving not a single Joyce Hatto note! And what about the newly discovered releases of well known deceased pianists that were scheduled to be released on his website as the Cortot Brandenburg Concertos or the Cortot Thibauld collaboration -- maybe these are real or maybe these are doctored modern recordings made to sound old (see the pristine audio site which has samples of how this is done and also right now has a free mp3 of a well known Cortot Thibauld recording. Also, if he cared about his wife's legacy why would he not want to release all the real recordings as well as the original master tapes before being doctored if there was real quality behind them? Very puzzling. What makes this more puzzling is the unknown motivation behind this. It couldn't be about money -- Barrington-Coupe claims he has only sold a few thousand CDs, not even enough to make enough profit to pay for basic living expenses. And if he was doing this to promote his wife’s social status so she would be thought of highly in certain circles or some other benefit like this, then wny, as you point out Porieux, continue after the death of the poor woman? And if he was doing it for the challenge or to make a point then why not be honest about it now they he has been discovered? I just can’t figure out a motivation given these facts.

KristiMyers Feb 27 at 10:57 PM EST

RE: Joyce Hatto hoax..!

in response to the message by Music Lover Here is another story, found today on Salon.com, about the Hatto hoax: Husband Says He Faked Wife's Recordings This thread has been very fascinating for me. I have been checking back many times each day to get an update. By ROBERT BARR Associated Press Writer February 27,2007 | LONDON -- British pianist Joyce Hatto, hailed after her death as a neglected genius, owed her reputation to performances stolen from other artists, her husband has admitted, saying he was desperate to have her life end "on a high note." "It is self-evident that I have acted stupidly, dishonestly and unlawfully," William Barrington-Coupe wrote in a letter acknowledging the fraudulent recordings, which he said he produced without his wife's knowledge while she was dying of ovarian cancer. "I was desperate to finish her life, which had been disappointing in so many ways, on a high note," Barrington-Coupe wrote. Hatto ceased to play in public in 1975, achieving only a modest reputation and collecting mixed reviews. But after she died last year at age 77, obituaries hailed her as a keyboard prodigy who left a brilliant legacy in more than 100 CDs produced by her husband on his Concert Artists label. "A singular artist of superlative technique and interpretation," said The Times. "One of the greatest pianists Britain has ever produced," wrote The Guardian. That reputation collapsed after Gramophone, a British music magazine, reported earlier this month that at least one Hatto CD recording, Franz Liszt's "Transcendental Etudes," was actually a release by pianist Laszlo Simon. The deception was uncovered when a classical music fan's iTunes computer library identified the Hatto recording as Simon's. The fan contacted one of Gramophone's critics, who listened to both recordings and discovered they were identical, the magazine said. In a letter to Robert von Bahr, chief executive officer of Sweden's BIS Records, which released Simon's recording, Barrington-Coupe acknowledged the theft. "Of course I deeply regret it. The damage has been enormous, and frightful things have been resurrected and insinuated in the press," Barrington-Coupe wrote. "The sad thing about all this is that my wife was a fine musician and probably the most finished pianist I had ever heard." In the letter, Barrington-Coupe said his wife was suffering from advanced ovarian cancer by the time he was able to produce CDs, and her grunts of pain marred recording sessions. So, he said, he searched for pianists of a similar sound and style to patch over his wife's recordings. Over time, the letter said, he took bigger and bigger pieces of other recordings, and learned how to manipulate speed to disguise the source. The deception unraveled when the Gramophone reader put the "Hatto" recording of "Transcendental Etudes" on his computer, and the iTunes software, which catalogues about 4 million albums based on the tracks' lengths, identified the recording as Simon's. Then a "Hatto" recording of Rachmaninoff piano concertos was identified as one by Yefim Bronfman on Sony, Gramophone said. After that, Andrew Rose of Pristine Audio found that a "Hatto" recording of music by Leopold Godowsky was actually one of Carlo Grante on Altarus, but slowed down by 15 percent. The Associated Press could not immediately reach Barrington-Coupe, whose telephone number is unlisted. However, Bahr, speaking in Stockholm, said Barrington-Coupe had acknowledged the deception, "because I was the only one that confronted him in a respectful way." "We've had a letter correspondence because he has also stolen music from me," Bahr said, adding that Barrington-Coupe asked him not to release the entire letter, though he read portions to a reporter. Gramophone reported Barrington-Coupe's letter to BIS on Monday, saying on its Web site that it had confirmed the contents with him. Irish pianist John O'Conor, whose recording of Beethoven's Sonata in E allegedly reappeared with Hatto's name in 1999, said he was flattered that anyone remembered his version. But he was puzzled by the late flowering of Hatto's reputation. "You had the media calling her the `greatest' this and `most prolific' that -- and people in the industry kept on saying: 'Who?' She hadn't been heard of for 30 years," O'Conor said. BPI, the British recording trade organization, said it was investigating. "If the stories flying around these recordings proved to be true, this would be one of the most extraordinary cases of piracy the record industry had ever seen," BPI said in a statement. Bahr, however, said he had no intention of pursuing Barrington-Coupe. "The guy is 76, he has a heart condition -- well, he says he has a heart condition -- and I can't see what, apart from revenge, it would give anyone," he said. Gramophone appealed for Barrington-Coupe to provide a full accounting of which recordings, if any, were actually by his wife. However, it quoted Barrington-Coupe as saying: "I'm tired, I'm not very well. I've closed the operation down, I've had the stock completely destroyed, and I'm not producing any more. Now I just want a little bit of peace."

JMac Feb 27 at 11:28 PM EST

RE: Joyce Hatto hoax..!

in response to the message by Music Lover "Robert von Bahr of BIS records captured the human dimension very sensitively when he told me: 'If it is his love for his wife that was the reason behind this, I for one am not inclined to press charges.'" This should go in the dictionary to illustrate the definition of class.

Porieux Feb 28 at 6:44 PM EST

RE: Joyce Hatto hoax..!

in response to the message by JMac Highly agreed, Robert von Bahr seems like a really great person. We are very fortunate that he graces us with his presence here; as if his amazing work were not enough. KristiMyers: thanks for the posting that article. BPI quote was particularly interesting. Music Lover: that still is qute a bit of money with very little overhead (yes I am going to assume b-c has never once produced an actual recording in a studio with actual musicians which didn't get released because of 'grunting'...it didn't stop Monk, Jarrett, Peterson, or Glenn Gould for that matter) and those are also numbers that were provided by him, so are not unlikely to be understated.

Music Lover Mar 1 at 8:35 AM EST

RE: Joyce Hatto hoax..!

in response to the message by Porieux Porieux: "that still is qute a bit of money " Even if he made $10 per CD that is less $50,000 which over the course of several years is not much. But I doubt there would be $10 profit per CD as there we so many titles and each title had mastering expenses, production expenses, etc that if only an average of 50 were sold for each title (remember there were over 100 Joyce Hatto CDs made) then I would expect that profit was closer to $5000 than $50,000. Nerrefid, I understand your point about Rene Kohler possibly being a psuedonym, but when I read the elaborate biorgraphy of Kohler (pasted below for reference) which, apparently, is communicated directly from William Barrington-Coupe (see footnote a bottom of previous link), then I cannot but help be suspicious. Anyway -- here is a cut and paste from above link -- it is a very well written work of fiction, I think, rather than something thrown together strictly for a recording psuedonym: ‘Brought up in Weimar, René was a pupil of Raoul Koczalski (1884-1948, via his teacher Mikulia direct descendent by tutelage of Chopin). He was precocious, playing both Chopin concertos by the age of ten. In 1936, through Koczalski’s recommendation, he briefly continued studying music at the Jagiellonian University of Krakow. Failing to be awarded a government scholarship, he moved to Warsaw. In the Polish capital, unable to join the Conservatoire because of his Jewish faith, he studied privately with the pianist Stanisław Spinalski. In 1940 his left hand was crushed irreparably by a young German “officer”, so-called. He survived the Ghetto but in the summer of 1942 was deported to Treblinka (one of around 300,000 resettled over a period of 52 days between July and September). Here (or in the vicinity - one of less than a hundred believed to have survived) he was found by the advancing Red Army (circa 1944). Unimpressed by his mixture of Polish/French and German-Jewish stock, his Soviet interrogator sent him on a train heading East for a labour camp - where he remained from 1945 until 1970. Given his freedom, he returned to Warsaw, with the help of a Russian friend, to try and sort out his family property. He learnt that a small-holding, confiscated by the Nazis in 1940/41, had been allocated to a German family as part of a "Resettlement" scheme. Exacting "justice"/revenge/retribution on the resettled family in 1945 (they were killed), the new Polish government then impounded the place, later to form an integral part of a Communist Party Commune. René found that the Polish authorities refused to recognise the name "Köhler" as having Polish associations. Their Soviet counterparts meanwhile denied they’d ever "captured" or held him prisoner. The East Germans were not interested in the case, claiming that the Köhlers had left the Weimar area in 1936 of their own "freewill". In fact they’d fled, an old professor at the Hochschule (whose son was a Nazi Party member) having warned them, at personal risk, that they should leave Weimar since all Jews were to be rounded up the following year to be sent East. Three of the family had already been murdered. René kept such things to himself. He never desired any attention from the media. Physically he was a mess - probably why he used to add to his age to account for his appearance. He died from prostate cancer.’

Music Lover Mar 1 at 11:49 AM EST

RE: Joyce Hatto hoax..!

in response to the message by Music Lover Joyce Hatto Hoax Hoax How to make real money

Nereffid Mar 1 at 12:15 PM EST

RE: Joyce Hatto hoax..!

in response to the message by Music Lover Current bid $33, with 3 days left! I love the seller's comment, "From what I know, this is Joyce Hatto playing. I have no evidence to the contrary, and am not interested in web rumors." This just completely redefines the meaning of "caveat emptor"!

berryb Mar 1 at 1:18 PM EST

RE: Joyce Hatto hoax..!

in response to the message by Nereffid ... a couple of days ago I figured that these cds may become collectors items some day (especially if that film ever comes through). So I made a modest bid on a Chopin etudes cd on eBay - only to be outbid by lots of less modest bids. Check the listing if you're curious about how high the auction closed... BerryB

Nereffid Mar 1 at 3:37 PM EST

RE: Joyce Hatto hoax..!

in response to the message by berryb Barrington-Coupe must surely be looking at ebay with a gleam in his eye!

Porieux Mar 1 at 4:29 PM EST

RE: Joyce Hatto hoax..!

in response to the message by Music Lover Music Lover: "Even if he made $10 per CD that is less $50,000 which over the course of several years is not much. But I doubt there would be $10 profit per CD as there we so many titles and each title had mastering expenses, production expenses, etc that if only an average of 50 were sold for each title (remember there were over 100 Joyce Hatto CDs made) then I would expect that profit was closer to $5000 than $50,000. " I dunno, I would imagine his estimate to have been much lower than the reality. Why would anyone think he would be honest about that part? Plus there is hardly any overhead. Mastering expenses? $0. CD duplication is pretty cheap, figure less than a dollar per disc, easily. Including packaging. I'm not sure how much he sold the CDs for, but subtract a dollar or two at most and the rest is pure profit. And since he presumably had a 'core' following who would buy every Hatto CD that came out, that would explain the high volume of different releases, to milk the 'fan base'. I'm not willing to give him as much of a free pass in this area. My guess is he made decent money from this or he would have stopped doing it long before now.

Music Lover Mar 1 at 5:52 PM EST

RE: Joyce Hatto hoax..!

in response to the message by Porieux Porieux, He did have mastering expenses -- I am rushing to get out of here before 6PM -- but he did have an engineer that he went to that took the digital recordings provided, remastered them, etc. -- maybe later I can provide the link.

Porieux Mar 2 at 3:36 AM EST

RE: Joyce Hatto hoax..!

in response to the message by Music Lover Seriously, any real mastering engineer would have known that these were recordings that were already mastered and would have asked for unmastered mixdowns, which would have been impossible to provide. I don't doubt that there may be someone who claims to have worked on this stuff, but it wouldn't be a professional mastering engineer for sure, and might even be someone who is in on the scam. I would definitely be interested in the link though :)

Gatton`` Mar 2 at 10:51 AM EST

RE: Joyce Hatto hoax..!

in direct response to the topic by Porieux Quite bazaar indeed. I've lost a few winks reading about all of this. If anyone decides to brave the threads in the rec.music.classical.recordings group beware the vitriol being slung about. I have visited that group many times over the years and the amount of personal insults and backbiting that goes on is staggering. But there a lot of good threads by helpful and knowledgeable people. You just have to sift through the chaff :) It's interesting how badly Tom Deacon gets it over there. I don't know the guy from Adam but I rather liked the Greatest Pianists of the 20th Century he produced. The ones I've heard anyway. Love the Andre Watts disc! My favorite Totentanz on record.

Music Lover Mar 2 at 12:40 PM EST

Letters from Hatto

in response to the message by Porieux musicweb article -- grab a cup of tea for this one.

qwynwyn Mar 2 at 6:29 PM EST

RE: Letters from Hatto

in response to the message by Music Lover that musicweb article was quite interesting (and long). i'm still not sure what to make of this whole situation - even after reading the letters/emails. how much was joyce hatto involved in the deception? was it mostly/all her husband? ah well.

Gatton`` Mar 4 at 6:50 AM EST

RE: Joyce Hatto hoax..!

in direct response to the topic by Porieux Mr. Barrington-Coupe gives his first interview to The Sunday Times. Yes, I lied about Joyce. Now I’ll face the music In his first interview the husband who made Joyce Hatto an international celebrity by faking her piano recordings tells Ann McFerran why he did it, and how he is coming to terms with being found out. http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/music/article1466154.ece

Music Lover Mar 4 at 3:24 PM EST

RE: Joyce Hatto hoax..!

in response to the message by Porieux Porieux: here is the link -- it's on the pristine audio site. You can do a search for "Roger Chatterton" "Joyce Hatto" and get additional references. According to the link his involvement included "editing between movements, assembling master CDs, and "EQing (altering the tonal balance) recordings so they sounded the same". In the interview with Barrington-Coupe that just posted the writer says that Barrington-Coupe made little if any money -- I really don't see how he could have made any significant money -- I don't know I accept his story -- but more inclined to do so after the interview -- though certainly the René Köhler mystery needs to be cleared up -- did she actually record performances with an orchestra? Also why does Barrington-Coupe not want to release her real recordings -- the article notes that noise made by Hatto is barely audible -- certainly if one can listen to Glenn Gould and Keith Jarrett or scratchy 78's -- the background noise made by Hatto should be that much of a barrier. Seems to be still a mystery....

EverythingFusion Mar 4 at 11:56 PM EST

RE: Joyce Hatto hoax..!

in response to the message by bissie You had me going there--I didn't realize this was a joke until I got to "they came out e-x-a-c-t-l-y like mine, down to the smallest sound-wave."

Music Lover Mar 5 at 8:37 AM EST

RE: Joyce Hatto hoax..!

in direct response to the topic by Porieux Would still like to see the Fiorentino recordings examined. Note this comment before the Hatto hoax started being unraveled: "The other artist extensively represented in the Concert Artists catalog is the great Italian pianist Sergio Fiorentino. After his death in 1998, the company began to release many of his performances that it had recorded, but never issued, decades before. On the website (www.concertartistrecordings.com), I noticed that nearly everything Fiorentino recorded had also been recorded by Hatto." Perhaps in looking for "Hatto" material, several recordings were examined by Mr. Barrington-Coupe with the strongest ones used for Joyce Hatto and the others that were good being used for "unreleased" Fiorentino recordings.

Nereffid Apr 26 at 9:08 AM EDT

RE: Joyce Hatto hoax..!

in direct response to the topic by Porieux More Hatto has arrived on eMusic! Her Prokofiev recordings are, according to the Wikipedia entry, "Taken at least in large part" from the set by Oleg Marshev.