# Would you rather be a composer or a performer?



## PresenTense (May 7, 2016)

Composers Pierre Boulez, Olivier Messiaen and pianist Yvonne Loriod.










Composer Igor Stravinsky and cellist Mstislav Rostropóvich


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## Tchaikov6 (Mar 30, 2016)

I would rather be a composer- I just would feel so much more accomplished to be a prominent composer writing and creating my own music. Besides, I could perform it if I was good enough as well.


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## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

I think I'd rather be a virtuoso performer. Many composers led short, stressful lives; often poor and diseased. The great virtuoso pianists, violinists, cellists, etc., often live to ripe old ages, revered by their peers, and emotionally nourished both by the music they immerse themselves in but also by their consciousness of their abilities. Rubenstein, Horowitz, Casals....., the list could go on indefinitely.


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## helenora (Sep 13, 2015)

definitely a composer.


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## Animal the Drummer (Nov 14, 2015)

Performer, all day long. I would find it both more enjoyable and more fulfilling to bring great music to life than I would to try and compose my own.


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## Heck148 (Oct 27, 2016)

I chose to be a performer, because I have little or no talent as a composer!!


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## DeepR (Apr 13, 2012)

Composer. I can't imagine anything more rewarding than composing your own symphony and then listening to the end result being performed. Or even a movie soundtrack for that matter.


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## Xaltotun (Sep 3, 2010)

I think performing is a bit too sexy for me, so composer. I could perform in the darkness of my own room, though, where no one else would hear, and drown in a secret, private extasy.


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## eugeneonagain (May 14, 2017)

As a performer you often see more actual musical activity. There are many composers with piles of unperformed work; hundreds of symphony no.1s that went nowhere.

Still I'd prefer to be a composer. I actually am one in a limited sense. I've had some work performed by wind quintets and brass ensembles, but you usually have to be active in a music community to get your work performed. I don't rate my output too highly anyway, but it's an enjoyable activity and nice when people do perform it.


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## Klassik (Mar 14, 2017)

I'd choose to be a conductor. I would feel right at home waiving a big stick at the performers! Of course, some of the musicians might want me to put my pants on! 

Besides, they live long lives, get paid well, and some get to jet around the globe. It sounds almost too good to be true!


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## Gordontrek (Jun 22, 2012)

Performing, for sure. I don't have the creative talent nor the inspiration to be a composer. But I've performed almost all my life, and enjoy orchestral/wind ensemble playing to no end. My dream job is to be the conductor of a symphony orchestra, though.


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## Agamemnon (May 1, 2017)

Definitely the composer because he is the true artist who creates. To be honest, the performer is for me just the slave to the composing master in the way Aristoteles defined the slave (= the human tool of the master)...

I find the question of this thread interesting because I have never understood why all attention always goes to the performers: why music critics only review the performance and never the composition (e.g. 'this is a bad/good performance of the famous string quartet' and never 'this is a bad/good composition by Beethoven') and why radio stations waste all their time on longwinding biographies of all performers instead of explaining the composition... So I have always felt to live in a different universe, because I don't care too much if the performance is great or not but more about if the composition is great or not...

BTW, maybe I do understand why critics (almost) never review the composition: do you think my theory is right that there is an old convention that music critics must only review the composition when it is premiered so e.g. Beethoven's Ninth Symphony as a composition got a review in 1824 and all performances after the first must receive only reviews of the performance?


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## Totenfeier (Mar 11, 2016)

An analogy: composer:Lord of the manor ^ performer:loyal butler.

One is a life of benign domination; the other, of loving service.

A composer composes and passes on; a performer makes the composer live again.

Performer, I think, for a more lasting satisfaction.

Classical music and drama are unique among the arts in that both require the participation of two completely different artists, doing two completely different forms of art, often widely spaced in time, to - for lack of a better word - _manifest_ the work of art anew in "a new" time. The vast majority of plays and musical works of art, at any given time, do not "exist," as such (I'm going to philosophically ignore recordings and films for the moment, if you will indulge me). A script is not a play, and a score is not music. Novels, paintings, sculpture, architecture - the products of these arts, while indeed requiring participation by the one appreciating them, are at least always _there_. A _performer_ is a rare and wonderful thing.

Postscript: Yes, dance too. Anybody else who wants to point out another I missed, help me out here!


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## Agamemnon (May 1, 2017)

Aristoteles uses the analogy of mind and body. Both are necessary to act and also master and slave are both necessary to produce anything but there is this common 'division of labor' (until this very day today): there is the one who has the plans and ideas (the master; the mind; the will) and the one who executes the will of the master/leader. Because they both need each other to accomplish anything Aristoteles even says that master and slave have a natural friendship ...


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## Xaltotun (Sep 3, 2010)

Another way of putting it might be that I'm perfectly willing to present (some of) my _thoughts_ to the public - and that's what I'd do as a composer - while I'd be reluctant to show any of my _emotions_ to the public... or pretty much anyone - and to me, that's what a performer does.

So, as a music professional, I'd be just like I am at TC.


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## Jacred (Jan 14, 2017)

Composer for sure. I'm not a great performer and I don't think I'd like to live (so to speak) on the stage anyway.


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

A performer, for sure. I live for adulation & "likes"!!


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## Heck148 (Oct 27, 2016)

Agamemnon said:


> Definitely the composer because he is the true artist who creates. To be honest, the performer is for me just the slave to the composing master......


Not so, at all - any more than the builder is slave to the architect who drafts the blueprints....blueprints are like a musical score - simply symbols on a page - it takes the performer/builder to actuate those symbols into something audible, tangible that can be used and/or appreciated by people.


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## Heck148 (Oct 27, 2016)

Agamemnon said:


> Aristoteles uses the analogy of mind and body. Both are necessary to act and also master and slave are both necessary to produce anything


but the performer must address all aspects of *Mind, Body and Spirit,* to be a good performer. the master-slave analogy is really faulty, and not based in reality.


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## Bulldog (Nov 21, 2013)

For me, this is all fantasy land, and in my fantasy I'm the composer.


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## Captainnumber36 (Jan 19, 2017)

Composer, which I already am one!


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## agoukass (Dec 1, 2008)

I would like to be a performer. I took piano lessons for twelve years and I really love performing. I don't know enough music theory to save my life, so I'll be performing the music of the composers I love.


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## Sound Of Silence (Jun 21, 2017)

İt is a dificult decision. I want to be both. Being composer is a bless and also being performer too


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## Bettina (Sep 29, 2016)

Performer, specifically a concert pianist. I'm not interested in composing, because (I have to admit) my favorite musical styles are in the 18th and 19th centuries. I would rather immerse myself in the music of the past, and work on communicating its nuances through my performances, instead of writing 21st-century music.


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## JAS (Mar 6, 2013)

If we are making a fantasy choice, I suppose I would prefer to be performer, although only if I get to be of the soloist or featured performer grade. (Hey, it's my fantasy, so I might as well dream big!) As a composer, I would be under constant pressure to come up with the next great idea, which must be very hard over time. 

But since I am not living in a fantasy, I will merely remain a contented listener.


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## Selby (Nov 17, 2012)

Performer, I think. I am in awe of the master pianists. A gift I was not blessed with. No natural talent despite efforts.


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## Bettina (Sep 29, 2016)

Agamemnon said:


> Definitely the composer because he is the true artist who creates. To be honest, the performer is for me just the slave to the composing master in the way Aristoteles defined the slave (= the human tool of the master)...
> 
> I find the question of this thread interesting because I have never understood why all attention always goes to the performers: why music critics only review the performance and never the composition (e.g. 'this is a bad/good performance of the famous string quartet' and never 'this is a bad/good composition by Beethoven') and why radio stations waste all their time on longwinding biographies of all performers instead of explaining the composition... So I have always felt to live in a different universe, because I don't care too much if the performance is great or not but more about if the composition is great or not...
> 
> BTW, maybe I do understand why critics (almost) never review the composition: do you think my theory is right that there is an old convention that music critics must only review the composition when it is premiered so e.g. Beethoven's Ninth Symphony as a composition got a review in 1824 and all performances after the first must receive only reviews of the performance?


That's a good question about why critics tend to evaluate specific performances rather than the canonical works themselves. Perhaps it's because most of the canonical works are considered universally great and beyond reproach...but then again, that doesn't stop us on TC from heaping scorn on everything from Mozart to Beethoven to Wagner! No work is too sacred for our (figurative) red pens:lol:, so what's stopping the music critics? :lol:


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## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

Herd mentality. Another reason to pay no attention to music critics.


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## EarthBoundRules (Sep 25, 2011)

Composer, so that I can listen to my own compositions when I'm done. And I would already know that I'd like them.


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## hagridindminor (Nov 5, 2015)

Definitely rather be a composer 10x, the only problem is my improvisation is much better than my theory. Like I know theory, but just can't keep up


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## StlukesguildOhio (Dec 25, 2006)

I have the advantage... as a visual artist... of being both the inventor and the one who realizes the invention. Indeed, the two are dovetailed into one. The process of painting or drawing involves continual invention and re-invention. The Italian term _disegno_ is loosely translated to mean both "design" and "drawing" suggesting that the act of the invention (or concept in today's terms) and creation or realization were one and the same. And they are.


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## cimirro (Sep 6, 2016)

composer & performer, why not?


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## Bettina (Sep 29, 2016)

cimirro said:


> composer & performer, why not?


That probably is the best of both worlds, and you're a living example of this unification!  In the old days (particularly in the 18th and 19th centuries) many musicians were indeed both composers and performers. The two fields became more separate and compartmentalized in the 20th century, with some notable exceptions such as Rachmaninoff.


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## Heck148 (Oct 27, 2016)

Bettina said:


> The two fields became more separate and compartmentalized in the 20th century, with some notable exceptions such as Rachmaninoff.


Prokofieff, Bernstein - who added in conducting to his resume....


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

cimirro said:


> composer & performer, why not?


I want to be a performer, either the best piano player in the world, no chance, or the best soprano in the world, no chance of that for sure.
Alls it's not meant to be so I am stick with what I do, enjoy listing to others who are much better.


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## cimirro (Sep 6, 2016)

Pugg said:


> I want to be a performer, either the best piano player in the world, no chance, or the best soprano in the world, no chance of that for sure.
> Alls it's not meant to be so I am stick with what I do, enjoy listing to others who are much better.


Don't worry, you are probably one of the best listeners in the world


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## Minor Sixthist (Apr 21, 2017)

cimirro said:


> Don't worry, you are probably one of the best listeners in the world


I'd be proud to have a title like that if I were Pugg. Listening is the best virtue of all.


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## brianvds (May 1, 2013)

I dislike travel, and I have stage fright. Thus I am not cut out to be a performer. I can see myself as recluse-like composer living on an island or something, turning out one masterpiece after other. But if you ever want to hear them you'd better get someone else to perform them.


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## Ivanbeeth (Nov 30, 2015)

It's interesting the varieties of answers in this thread. I always wonder at the end of a performance how much of the ovation is for the performer and how much for the composer. The composer's name is the one that sticks with me always, but it is true that there are a number of works that went nowhere, that never came to life; and that's sad, you know? I'd assume that as a performer you can live a more comfortable life in terms of money-wordly stuff, and it is because of your efforts that the composer's works, and the composers themselves, have a life, but I think that the almost godlike transcendece is something reserved for the composer alone. I'd rather be a composer. The same goes with a scientist-engineer scenario: I'll always have Newton's name in my mind, buy I'll someday forget the man with whom I worked at a certain point in time. The performer minds the moment; the composer, the eternity. And I choose the eternity.


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## Animal the Drummer (Nov 14, 2015)

Doesn't that assume your music would go on being performed and heard? If it weren't (and most isn't), would you still feel a connection with eternity?


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## Bettina (Sep 29, 2016)

Ivanbeeth said:


> It's interesting the varieties of answers in this thread. I always wonder at the end of a performance how much of the ovation is for the performer and how much for the composer. The composer's name is the one that sticks with me always, but it is true that there are a number of works that went nowhere, that never came to life; and that's sad, you know? I'd assume that as a performer you can live a more comfortable life in terms of money-wordly stuff, and it is because of your efforts that the composer's works, and the composers themselves, have a life, but I think that the almost godlike transcendece is something reserved for the composer alone. I'd rather be a composer. The same goes with a scientist-engineer scenario: I'll always have Newton's name in my mind, buy I'll someday forget the man with whom I worked at a certain point in time. *The performer minds the moment;* the composer, the eternity. And I choose the eternity.


That's not necessarily true. Thanks to recording technology, performers are able to "enjoy" (if that's the right word) just as much posthumous fame as composers! Many recordings by great performers have entered the permanent canon of masterpieces. Gould's first recording of the Goldbergs was made in 1955 and it is still extremely famous - revered by some listeners, hated by others, but my point is that we are still talking about it! Also, Furtwängler's recording of Tristan (1952) is widely considered one of the greatest interpretations of all time. I'm sure that some of today's performers (I'm betting on Trifonov in particular!) will similarly go down in history as all-time greats.


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## Bettina (Sep 29, 2016)

Ivanbeeth said:


> It's interesting the varieties of answers in this thread. I always wonder at the end of a performance how much of the ovation is for the performer and how much for the composer. The composer's name is the one that sticks with me always, but it is true that there are a number of works that went nowhere, that never came to life; and that's sad, you know? I'd assume that as a performer you can live a more comfortable life in terms of money-wordly stuff, and it is because of your efforts that the composer's works, and the composers themselves, have a life, but I think that the almost godlike transcendece is something reserved for the composer alone. I'd rather be a composer. The same goes with a scientist-engineer scenario: I'll always have Newton's name in my mind, buy I'll someday forget the man with whom I worked at a certain point in time. *The performer minds the moment;* the composer, the eternity. And I choose the eternity.


Deleted for accidental double-posting. My post was slow to load up, and I got impatient and hit the "post reply" button again!! :lol:


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Bettina said:


> Deleted for accidental double-posting. My post was slow to load up, and I got impatient and hit the "post reply" button again!! :lol:


No problem. It happens to the worst of us.

Having both composed and performed, and as a ballet class accompanist composed and performed in the same instant, I find composing on paper arduous and frustrating, while performing (especially improvising) brings immediate gratification and, in my occupation, money. Creation may be the most fulfilling experience imaginable when it goes well - and God said, "Let there be light!" - but it can be a black hole of frustration and depression when it doesn't. There are reasons why conductors live to be ninety and composers go insane.


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## Klassik (Mar 14, 2017)

Bettina said:


> That's not necessarily true. Thanks to recording technology, performers are able to "enjoy" (if that's the right word) just as much posthumous fame as composers! Many recordings by great performers have entered the permanent canon of masterpieces. Gould's first recording of the Goldbergs was made in 1955 and it is still extremely famous - revered by some listeners, hated by others, but my point is that we are still talking about it! Also, Furtwängler's recording of Tristan (1952) is widely considered one of the greatest interpretations of all time. I'm sure that some of today's performers (I'm betting on Trifonov in particular!) will similarly go down in history as all-time greats.


This is true. A trip to a B&M CD store will show that although the composers get top billing most of the time, there are a large number of CDs where the performer gets the most attention. Someone like Yo-Yo Ma is probably more popular, at least in the US, than any living outside of John Williams perhaps. Even then, I'm sure being conductor of the Boston Pops helped Williams' popularity some too. That was a big deal back in the day.


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## Krummhorn (Feb 18, 2007)

I'll remain a performer. There are so many wonderful works for organ that I have yet to discover and I enjoy perusing the mostly unknown composers of my preferred instrument. Thankfully IMSLP let's me explore to my hearts content.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Klassik said:


> This is true. A trip to a B&M CD store will show that although the composers get top billing most of the time, there are a large number of CDs where the performer gets the most attention. Someone like Yo-Yo Ma is probably more popular, at least in the US, than any living outside of John Williams perhaps. Even then, I'm sure being conductor of the Boston Pops helped Williams' popularity some too. That was a big deal back in the day.


I wonder whether some performers stipulate in their contracts that their names be more conspicuous on recordings than those of the composers. Karajan conducts Beethoven.


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## Klassik (Mar 14, 2017)

Woodduck said:


> I wonder whether some performers stipulate in their contracts that their names be more conspicuous on recordings than those of the composers. Karajan conducts Beethoven.












That sounds like something Karajan would have done.  Hell, Karajan probably made DG buy him that jet too! :lol:


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Klassik said:


> That sounds like something Karajan would have done.  Hell, Karajan probably made DG buy him that jet too! :lol:


OMFG (first time I've ever said that, BTW)!

Of all the names I could have chosen, Karajan's was the one that came immediately to mind. The choice was better than I knew.


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## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

You are looking into the face of one of the roughly dozen people Norman Lebrecht fingers as having killed Classical Music (by sending costs through the roof, among other sins).


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## Razumovskymas (Sep 20, 2016)

BOTH!!

Beethoven, Händel, Liszt, Prokofiev!!!!


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## JAS (Mar 6, 2013)

Strange Magic said:


> You are looking into the face of one of the roughly dozen people Norman Lebrecht fingers as having killed Classical Music (by sending costs through the roof, among other sins).


http://www.independent.co.uk/voices...that-impoverished-classical-music-805141.html

(I don't necessarily agree, but just for reference . . .)


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## Xaltotun (Sep 3, 2010)

Pugg said:


> I want to be a performer, either the best piano player in the world, no chance, or the best soprano in the world, no chance of that for sure.
> Alls it's not meant to be so I am stick with what I do, enjoy listing to others who are much better.


Soprano, you say?? So you're a woman? Pugg, I was completely sure you were a man for some reason!! Live and learn!


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## cimirro (Sep 6, 2016)

Woodduck said:


> OMFG (first time I've ever said that, BTW)!
> 
> Of all the names I could have chosen, Karajan's was the one that came immediately to mind. The choice was better than I knew.


I was just planning to show my new videogame in the cover of my next CD!  :lol:
maybe the intention was the Beethoven's Symphonies after his impressions of Ornstein's Suicide in an airplane... who knows... no no...


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## PlaySalieri (Jun 3, 2012)

I would be a perfomer. If I had had the chance when I was a child and supportive parents - and had discovered classical music at 10 and not 25. Definitely a performer.

To me - it's all about 18th and 19thC music anyway - and 20th to an extent. I havent really heard anything worth a repeat listening composed after 1980 and I wouldnt want to be another contemporary composer begging for my pieces to be tagged onto popular bums on seats programs.

It would have been a privilege to play to a high standard the great repertoire pieces - violin preferably.


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## brianvds (May 1, 2013)

Klassik said:


> That sounds like something Karajan would have done.  Hell, Karajan probably made DG buy him that jet too! :lol:


And on a bit of a tangent, that must be one of the most spectacularly ugly and tasteless album covers I have ever seen.


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

brianvds said:


> And on a bit of a tangent, that must be one of the most spectacularly ugly and tasteless album covers I have ever seen.


Oh yeah! His Porsche one is a lot better. :lol:


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## Klassik (Mar 14, 2017)

brianvds said:


> And on a bit of a tangent, that must be one of the most spectacularly ugly and tasteless album covers I have ever seen.





KenOC said:


> Oh yeah! His Porsche one is a lot better. :lol:














To be fair, these CDs came out after Karajan died. Then again, he did pose for the pictures when he was alive. It's hard to say for sure, but these covers do seem to encapsulate Karajan's ego and personality.

Now if you really want to puke, there's the Lang Lang edition Bugatti Veyron. €2,132,700.


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

Woodduck said:


> I wonder whether some performers stipulate in their contracts that their names be more conspicuous on recordings than those of the composers. Karajan conducts Beethoven.


I believe that Karajan is still the top-grossing conductor in the world. And he's been dead for -- how long is it?


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## brianvds (May 1, 2013)

What the heck is it with musicians and fast transport?


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## cimirro (Sep 6, 2016)

KenOC said:


> I believe that Karajan is still the top-grossing conductor in the world. And he's been dead for -- how long is it?


Talent... from 20 to 40 kg of marketing...


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

Next...the Kryptonite Remastering of Karajan's Beethoven symphonies...


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## cimirro (Sep 6, 2016)

KenOC said:


> Next...the Kryptonite Remastering of Karajan's Beethoven symphonies...


yes, but maybe his photo in the first travel to Mars would be easier to believe and sufficiently impressive.
... well,,,
?
did I wrote sufficiently? sorry.. you are right...


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## Klassik (Mar 14, 2017)

KenOC said:


> Next...the Kryptonite Remastering of Karajan's Beethoven symphonies...


Sadly, I don't think even Kryptonite can fix the terrible sound quality of some of those Karajan Beethoven recordings! 

But, hey, they'll still be best sellers!


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Xaltotun said:


> Soprano, you say?? So you're a woman? Pugg, I was completely sure you were a man for some reason!! Live and learn!


NO.
I did wroth:


> or the best soprano in the world, no chance of that for sure.


 That should answer you question I think ( no change for a sex change in this lifetime)


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## cimirro (Sep 6, 2016)

Pugg said:


> NO.
> I did wroth:
> That should answer you question I think ( no change for a sex change in this lifetime)


I wish you win 10 dollars each time someone ask you if you are a man or a woman... I will be friend of one of the richiest persons in the world quite soon. :lol:


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## DeepR (Apr 13, 2012)

Klassik said:


> Now if you really want to puke, there's the Lang Lang edition Bugatti Veyron. €2,132,700.


His pants are worse than the car.


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## Klassik (Mar 14, 2017)

DeepR said:


> His pants are worse than the car.


Those pants are there to remind us to get a bottle of Pepto-Bismal ready if you're going to listen to him play!


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## Xaltotun (Sep 3, 2010)

Pugg said:


> NO.
> I did wroth:
> That should answer you question I think ( no change for a sex change in this lifetime)


OK! I actually thought of that possibility, but I thought it was more likely that you referred to your singing skills with the "no chance..." sentence!


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