The Great Piano Scam
British concert pianist Joyce Hatto had a breakdown on stage in 1976 and did not play again in public for 25 years. In her late 70s, she apparently made a miraculous comeback. She was playing complete cycles of Rachmaninoff concertos, Mozart sonatas, Beethoven sonatas, Liszt Transcendental Etudes, and many other compositions. She was hailed as the greatest British pianist of the 20th Century. After she had died in 2006, however, it came to light that not all was as it seemed. Watch and see how the situation developed.
Read more:
Joyce Hatto – Wikipedia
Comments
great movie made about the scandal, “loving miss hatto”
I love it. I want to believe that this was his musical Taj Mahal.
What a nerve. He compares himself to Michelangelo. Sad.
The burning question is: Do we have a reliable recording of hers that is absolutely beyond question only hers? I had never heard of Joyce Hatto before your expose. Vicki
Is the global music/entertainment surprised? Scams are ‘a dime the dozen’!
I’m very surprised this scam wasn’t exposed while it was going on. I’m an intermediate-level student piano player whose fingers were permanently crippled in a bicycle accident several years ago. Although I’m no longer capable of playing live, I can make near-perfect recordings in my living room using my Yamaha digital piano, my computer, and any commercially-available software recording program. This could also be done earlier with the technology used during Joyce Hatto’s time. It seems like any audiophile should have known that.