|
Yeah. If you're using a piano anyways, you might as well make use of the advantages it has over a harpsichord, such as flexible dynamics. Doesn't mean you have to play it like Brahms or like Debussy, doesn't mean you have to use dynamics excessively (although you certainly could), and if you don't like the sound of it with pedal, don't use it. But interpretation has always been part of (most) music, and in baroque much more so than in the following times. A baroque piece leaves you so many more freedoms than a romantic piece, so make use of it! It wasn't customary to write down everything in detail back then, it was expected of the performer to show some creativity.
"Just playing what's in the notes" would actually be as "unauthentic" as you could get.
Apart from that, I've always believed that performers are artists, not just "sound reproduction machines". Being creative is good! To me, Glen Gould's Bach playing is an excellent example of how you can approach old music very personally and creatively, while still "honouring the piece". While it's not how the pieces actually would have sounded in Bach's time, it's still "authentic" because it's Gould's own authentic interpretation of Bach's notes, that neither removes Bach's nor Gould's personality from the music.
|