There are generally two extremes in the creation of a performance: do it exactly as the composer intended, or make it as “good” as possible. The word “good” is problematic, for it involves taste, which is by no means easily measurable. For example, while the production of Carmen set in New Orleans was certainly not what the composer intended, the director clearly thought that the setting would bring a valuable addition to the opera. As it so happens, pretty much everyone else disagreed. Being faithful to the composer might be safer, but it is in no way easier. Most productions of any sort—including your cover of Pink Floyd—tend to strike a comfortable balance in between. Do right by the original, but let them know they aren’t listening to a recording. I think that your singer’s decision to mimic Dave Gilmour showed that you were striving for artistry above the level of a high school band covering Pink Floyd—of which there are many poor examples (from your description of the audience’s reaction, I can tell you weren’t one of them).
Still, there is an interesting point to be made. Is mimicking the original the best way to do right by the composer, or would it be, in practice, more respectful to simply make the only ideal one of excellence? As I already said, most people tend to strike a balance between the two. In the case of Don Giovanni, keep most of the orchestration the same, but don’t worry about finding a clarinet in a, just use the regular b flat. Or when covering New York State of Mind, change the name of the city to whatever town you happen to be in. In my mind, the only real problem arises when someone wants to do something different, but feels they can’t out of an obligation to the composer. It’s hard to pin this sort of thing down, because it’s difficult to know everything about the creative process just by the performance, but in my experience productions that endured this sort of creative limitation tend to feel hollow and—dare I say—inauthentic. When you hear people reading Shakespeare exactly how they think people would have when it was written, it doesn’t feel authentic, it feels boring. You don’t have to change any of the words, you don’t even have to focus on sounding not old, you just can’t try to be authentic.
These things tend to by cyclical, in the 70’s, period instruments and performances were extremely popular, and then in the 80’s they fell out of favor. Now, it looks as though they are making a comeback, though not to the level of before.
Striving for authenticity can be a creative goal, and I suppose it can even be liberating to some people. Value judgments bring taste into the discussion, and thus bias. I think it’s probably clear at this point that I am biased towards not restraining yourself with exact replication for a number of reasons, but I recognize that this is my taste. I would rather see a “good” performance than a “right” performance, and I of course realize that the two are not mutually exclusive. My opinion, wrought from years performing/getting others to perform/composing music, is just that being creative is hard enough without limitations that hinder rather than help. Again, this is a matter of preference, as the limitations that strangle me could inspire others.
There is also the issue of an impossible goal; for we can only get close to complete authenticity, we cannot ever reach it. For example, as authentic as your performance of Pink Floyd is, it is not as authentic as a performance by the band itself. This is a dangerous road to go down, because we can even look at a performance by the band itself and say it is not authentic—this was a huge issue for Bob Dylan when he switched to electric guitar. As soon as a particular performance is labeled as authentic, subsequent performances can only imitate the ideal. This is especially an issue with modern music, for a studio recording can often become the only truly “authentic” performance, creating an even more impossible standard. Would we even want to listen to a concert that sounds exactly like the CD? As Jimi Hendrix famously said, if you want to hear the recording, go home and listen to it. Most people strike an instinctual balance in their performance by just doing what feels right, and I think this is the best way to go. On the notion of authenticity, however, I have to agree with Jimi—if you want to listen to an authentic performance of Don Giovanni, go home and stare at the score.
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