7 February
09:30–10:30 Inja Stanović: “Casals’ Beethoven and Embodied Responses”
This talk explores the intriguing relationship between embodied responses to recorded music and their practical applications. It questions the blurred division between 21st-century perceptions of past performance styles and the various approaches used to recreate them; while exciting methodologies in recorded sound research have produced exhilarating performances, articles, and books, they have also led to contrasting and artistically/academically clashing outcomes. To demonstrate this, the talk examines Pau Casals' extensive discography, which spans the transition from acoustic to electric recording technologies. The discussion will focus on Casals' approaches to Beethoven's cello and piano sonatas, in the context of his recordings with pianists including Rudolf Serkin, Wilhelm Kempff, Mieczysław Horszowski, Otto Schulhof, Eugene Istomin, and Alfred Cortot. By comparing these recordings, the talk will deepen our understanding of the interpretational approaches Casals employed at different stages of his life and with various chamber collaborators. These Beethoven recordings provide a wealth of information relative to Casals’ personal style; analysing Casals’ recordings with his chamber partners reveals not only interpretational differences but also illuminates core elements of his distinctive stylistic approach.
The talk explores the fine line between emulating historical performances and developing a unique style, while also acknowledging the limitations of our perception of historic performance practices. This reveals various challenges facing the historically informed performers, including the relearning of playing techniques and adoption of new performance styles. The relationship between embodied responses to recorded music and their application in practice is unusually problematic. While the process of embodiment is crucial in learning about historical performance practices, various interpretative choices are sine qua non, as demonstrated by Casals’ recordings. We must ask ourselves, what are we actually mimicking when practicing embodiment based on sound recordings? We might question the various approaches to the early sound recordings and their recreation, however, one thing is certain - Casals’ recordings exemplify the limitations of our understanding of historical performance practices, and perhaps encourage us to explore numerous new-found performance paths.
Inja Stanović is a pianist and musicologist, whose areas of research include early recordings, historically-informed performance practices, and historical recording technologies. As a pianist, Inja has performed throughout the world, and she is also a published author. Most recent publications include the co-edited (with Dr. Eva Moreda Rodríguez) volume Early Sound Recordings: Academic Research and Practice (Routledge, 2023), research album Austro-German revivals: (Re)constructing Acoustic Recordings (co-authored with Dr. David Milsom; University of Huddersfield Press, 2023) and the article for Music & Practice, '(Re)constructing Early Recordings: Reviving the Brave Belgians' (co-authored with dr. Jeroen Billiet, 2023). Inja currently works as Surrey Future Senior Fellow, and the University of Surrey where she directs the digital platform for historical recording research and practice - Early Recordings Association. ERA embodies forward-thinking research and serves to educate and inform researchers and students, generating innovative paths in the field of early recording research.