Tom Deacon R.I.P.

[Steven de Mena]

From Tom's Facebook Page yesterday:

"Tom Deacon
10h
·
I am Tom’s partner, Stuart. As you all know Tom has been mostly absent from Facebook for many months due to his declining health. Some of you I have already contacted but my contact information is incomplete.

I am sorry to have to tell you that Tom died on Sunday morning February 5.

He had been in hospital since mid December. His health had been declining over the past six months and declined rapidly in the last month.

If you should need to contact me, my email address is:
swbhen...@mac.com"

[Dan Koren]

Very to sorry to hear! RIP!

dk

[Dan Koren]

On Friday, February 10, 2023 at 1:12:36 AM UTC-8, Marc S wrote:

> Grieving over an unrepentent antisemite...
> yet calling Menachem Begin "dreck" and
> Netanyahu "Putin"

Tom Deacon contributed far more to
music than Putin, Begin, or Netanyahu.
Remember this ng is about music?

dk

[HT]

I'm very sorry to hear this. His Great Pianists of the Century was quite an achievement. He knew the industry's ins and outs. He was one of the really informative members of RMCR. May he rest in peace.

Henk

[peter gutmann]

Politics aside, I agree that Mr. Deacon’s monumental “Great Pianists of the Twentieth Century” project warrants acclaim as a testament to his contributions to music. While in a more extensive review (http://www.classicalnotes.net/columns/pianoweb.html) I had gently protested what I perceived as the flaws in his selections (no chamber and little modern music, few “golden age” pianists, some rotten transfers, liner notes that cruelly teased by praising recordings not included), most volumes presented vivid musical portraits and descriptive appeciations of distinctive piano personalities of the recorded era (albeit with a few distortions presumably due to licensing issues – notably for Gould and Serkin). The entire edition has earned a permanent place on my shelves and continues to repay dividends with further listening.

[Norman Schwartz]

"Ins and outs"?
He praised recording(s) when attributed to Joyce Hatto but panned the very same recording when it was attributed to the actual performing artist. I'll remember him for being a fake like the recordings he praised.

[Frank Berger]

And an anti-semite and a nasty person. Nevertheless, I get no pleasure in his death.

[Fymido Lenito]

On Friday, February 10, 2023 at 1:49:04 AM UTC-8, HT wrote:
> I'm very sorry to hear this. His Great Pianists of the Century was quite an achievement. He knew the industry's ins and outs. He was one of the really informative members of RMCR. May he rest in peace.
>
> Henk

I benefited from his postings on RMCR about pianists I was unaware of. Michael Korstick being one of the interesting pianists that he mentioned here.

[HT]

> "Ins and outs"?
> He praised recording(s) when attributed to Joyce Hatto but panned the very same recording when it was attributed to the actual performing artist. I'll remember him for being a fake like the recordings he praised.

The Hatto affair was not his finest hour. In his defense, consistency in taste is not a virtue, and most Hattos had been tinkered with. It was strange, though, that he believed an unknown pianist could master such a large repertoire so superbly. Even stranger was, that he was not alone in this.

Henk

[Dan Koren]

On Friday, February 10, 2023 at 1:25:07 AM UTC-8, Marc S wrote:

> Have you thought about sitting shiva for Tom?

Nope. I don't practice "the religion". I do
not sit shiva for anyone or anything.

Since when does a Nazi dog krautkopf
assume the right to tell others what to
do?

dk

[Dan Koren]

Bingo! Humankind appears to have an inclination to develop
mass delusions and mass psychoses. Many people want so
deperately to believe in some story -- the more tear jerking
so much more attractive.

This is why it is so important to never ever subscribe to a
a shared belief system, no matter how plauisble and how
noble it appears to be at first sight.

dk

[James Goodzeit]

On Friday, February 10, 2023 at 4:17:35 AM UTC-5, Marc S wrote:

> We all know you have no principles. Have fun grieving over an antisemite.

While Tom could be unpleasant and was an ardent anti-Zionist, whenever we hear a right-winger accuse someone of anti-Semitism, it is more often than not a confession.

This group was better when he was here, as he had an encyclopedic knowledge of classical recordings, lots of industry anecdotes, and was always willing to share his expertise. Even when I disagreed with his assessments and opinions, I enjoyed reading what he had to say.

RIP TD.

[Dan Koren]

On Friday, February 10, 2023 at 12:26:02 PM UTC-8, Marc S wrote:

> Maybe you could make an exception for
> Tom, since you adore him so much.

No excuses, no exceptions. Where did you
get the idea I "adored" Tom Deacon? Have
you read r.m.c.r. archives? Tom was one
of my punching bags, however this does
not disqualify him from an honest RIP
and condolences to all his near and
dear.

You are by far the worst excrement to
disgrace this group.

dk

[Herman]

Tom was acerbic at times, and he did not suffer fools gladly.
He was strangely duped by the Hatto thing, just like a couple of other pianophiles.
I liked talking to him.
His leaving RMCR was part of its decline.
A life well-spent, RIP, Tom.

[Frank Berger]

Yes, we know there are no anti-semites, only anti-Zionists.

[Dan Koren]

The "Hatto thing" was indeed a fascinating phenomenon. It
was made possible by so many people not really listening
to music when they thought they were listening. Hearing
can be easily disrupted by other senses, and distorted
by pre-conceived notions and by shared belief systems.

dk

[Herman]

On Friday, February 10, 2023 at 9:41:58 PM UTC+1, Marc S wrote:

> You mean you liked hating on Israel with him?

I rarely ever participate in politcal topics, and certainly not on Israel or the Middle East. I just don't have anything to add.

You seem to be as unaware as a baby how utterly disgraceful your act on this RIP topic is.

[James Goodzeit]

I never met a conservative who was not intellectually dishonest. I never said or suggested anything like that. Anti-Semites and Anti-Zionists are overlapping circles, nothing more, nothing less.

[Dan Koren]

On Friday, February 10, 2023 at 1:47:10 PM UTC-8, James Goodzeit wrote:
>
> I never met a conservative who was not intellectually dishonest.
>

How could they? Did they have "intellect"? I ask the question .....

dk

[Owen Hartnett]

On 2023-02-10 09:49:01 +0000, HT said:

> I'm very sorry to hear this. His Great Pianists of the Century was
> quite an achievement. He knew the industry's ins and outs. He was one
> of the really informative members of RMCR. May he rest in peace.
>

I'll echo Henk's statement. TD was one of the more tendentious members
here and liked to mix it up. GPOTC was his crowning glory, even if it
wasn't perfect. RIP Tom.

-Owen

[James Goodzeit]

Good point, the large majority of them barely have a high school education, but there is an assortment of grifters who are able to find their way into positions of power, influence, or wealth through their wits and not having a conscience to impede their ambition. But you may question whether these purported conservatives actually have any fixed ideology, conservative or otherwise, since they clearly lack a moral compass.

[Pluted Pup]

So "many people"? Hatto discs were sold as a "hard to get"
item, so only the few who bought directly from the producer
ever heard them, and there was quite a long time before
*any* of the public heard them, we only heard the hype.
When the CDs started being sold by actual retailers like
MDT the Hatto Hoax collapsed.

I take this as a lesson to beware of "hard to get"
marketing of music. There are music companies serious
about selling their music and then there are hokesters
who play "hard to get" games.

[Dan Koren]

On Friday, February 10, 2023 at 6:22:49 PM UTC-8, Pluted Pup wrote:
> On Fri, 10 Feb 2023 13:03:52 -0800, Dan Koren wrote:
>
> > On Friday, February 10, 2023 at 12:37:34 PM UTC-8, Herman wrote:
> > >
> > > Tom was acerbic at times, and he did not suffer fools gladly.
> > > He was strangely duped by the Hatto thing, just like a couple
> > > of other pianophiles. I liked talking to him. His leaving RMCR
> > > was part of its decline. A life well-spent, RIP, Tom.
> >
> > The "Hatto thing" was indeed a fascinating phenomenon. It
> > was made possible by so many people not really listening
> > to music when they thought they were listening. Hearing
> > can be easily disrupted by other senses, and distorted
> > by pre-conceived notions and by shared belief systems.
>
> So "many people"? Hatto discs were sold as a "hard to get"

They were easily available on Amazon. In what cave were
you living at the time ?!?

> item, so only the few who bought directly from the producer
> ever heard them, and there was quite a long time before
> *any* of the public heard them, we only heard the hype.
> When the CDs started being sold by actual retailers like
> MDT the Hatto Hoax collapsed.

See above.

> I take this as a lesson to beware of "hard to get"
> marketing of music. There are music companies serious
> about selling their music and then there are hokesters
> who play "hard to get" games.

Remember Philips marketed GPOC and the Richter
box as "special editions" and took reservations far
ahead of the actual release date? Maybe you need
to replace those grey cells.

dk

[Pluted Pup]

On Fri, 10 Feb 2023 18:29:27 -0800, Dan Koren wrote:

> On Friday, February 10, 2023 at 6:22:49 PM UTC-8, Pluted Pup wrote:
> > On Fri, 10 Feb 2023 13:03:52 -0800, Dan Koren wrote:
> >
> > > On Friday, February 10, 2023 at 12:37:34 PM UTC-8, Herman wrote:
> > > >
> > > > Tom was acerbic at times, and he did not suffer fools gladly.
> > > > He was strangely duped by the Hatto thing, just like a couple
> > > > of other pianophiles. I liked talking to him. His leaving RMCR
> > > > was part of its decline. A life well-spent, RIP, Tom.
> > >
> > > The "Hatto thing" was indeed a fascinating phenomenon. It
> > > was made possible by so many people not really listening
> > > to music when they thought they were listening. Hearing
> > > can be easily disrupted by other senses, and distorted
> > > by pre-conceived notions and by shared belief systems.
> >
> > So "many people"? Hatto discs were sold as a "hard to get"
>
> They were easily available on Amazon. In what cave were
> you living at the time ?!?

Hatto discs were not sold on Amazon before the Hatto
hoax collapsed, as far as I know. If so, that would
be even more to my point, that the scam thrived when
it was circulated in the handful to music reviewers
to post purple praise about Hatto and it was only when
they became listenable to the public that the hoax
collapsed.

For a while Hatto CDs were of the "I've got something
you don't have!" type of bragging among a few reviewers
"lucky" to have such good connections with BC, the
producer.

[Dan Koren]

On Friday, February 10, 2023 at 6:59:58 PM UTC-8, Pluted Pup wrote:
> On Fri, 10 Feb 2023 18:29:27 -0800, Dan Koren wrote:
>
> > On Friday, February 10, 2023 at 6:22:49 PM UTC-8, Pluted Pup wrote:
> > > On Fri, 10 Feb 2023 13:03:52 -0800, Dan Koren wrote:
> > >
> > > > On Friday, February 10, 2023 at 12:37:34 PM UTC-8, Herman wrote:
> > > > >
> > > > > Tom was acerbic at times, and he did not suffer fools gladly.
> > > > > He was strangely duped by the Hatto thing, just like a couple
> > > > > of other pianophiles. I liked talking to him. His leaving RMCR
> > > > > was part of its decline. A life well-spent, RIP, Tom.
> > > >
> > > > The "Hatto thing" was indeed a fascinating phenomenon. It
> > > > was made possible by so many people not really listening
> > > > to music when they thought they were listening. Hearing
> > > > can be easily disrupted by other senses, and distorted
> > > > by pre-conceived notions and by shared belief systems.
> > >
> > > So "many people"? Hatto discs were sold as a "hard to get"
> >
> > They were easily available on Amazon. In what cave were
> > you living at the time ?!?
>
> Hatto discs were not sold on Amazon before the Hatto
> hoax collapsed, as far as I know. If so, that would

You just don't know. I bought them from Amazon.
They were EASILY available. Amazon is not just
Amazon US. There is Amazon CA, Amazon UK,
Amazon DE, Amazon FR and Amazon JP. And
many more nowadays. Where do you live?
Please provide a complete cave address! ;-)

dk

[Pluted Pup]

> > I take this as a lesson to beware of "hard to get"
> > marketing of music. There are music companies serious
> > about selling their music and then there are hokesters
> > who play "hard to get" games.
>
> Remember Philips marketed GPOC and the Richter
> box as "special editions" and took reservations far
> ahead of the actual release date? Maybe you need
> to replace those grey cells.

No, I don't remember that. Did they do what Sony
does now, immediately delete the item to prevent
it from generating too many sales?

[Herman]

most of what DK says is counterfactual bullshit.
he's been living in a cave for decades.

[Dan Koren]

You need to take your pills on time as prescribed.

dk

[Dan Koren]

This is your standard kneejerk reaction. I will file
a harassment complaint with the prefecture and
request your fiddling license should be revoked.

dk

[Notsure01]

I was mostly a lurker years ago when Tom was active - so I never had the
opportunity to interact with him - but I have also missed his positive
contributions to the group. One thing he shared with all of us is a
passionate appreciation of music - something that is all too rare.

It's true that in addition to his anti-Zionism he liked to insult Tepper
and particularly Richard Loeb so his prejudices were very blatant.

But I have many of the GPOC volumes and really enjoy them, and I seem to
recall that Tom said he was a key person in the creation of the great
Philips Duo series - perhaps a progenitor of today's mega-boxes?

So, with all his faults, Tom will be missed!

(And by the way, I have just been listening to Varese Arcana and somehow
it reminds me of the squabbling going on in recent threads - I'd have to
say that the percussion wins - in the music at least...)

[Pluted Pup]

Perhaps. I remember the Hatto CDs as a scarce item,
that only gradually became more available. Once
ordinary people could hear them instead of just
reviewers is when they were exposed as fakes.

[Pluted Pup]

Your Insult Generator has been consuming too much
fuel, upgrade to the more environmentally friendly
Hybrid model.

[Dan Koren]

Do you buy your facts from the same station
where you buy your gas ?!?

The discovery of the fraud had little if anything to
do with "ordinary people" -- unless one includes
musicologists among "ordinary people". Check
the Wikipedia:

"In May 2005 the musicologist Marc-André Roberge
reported on the Yahoo! Godowsky group[24] that, in
Hatto's version of the Chopin-Godowsky Studies on
the Concert Artist label, a misreading of a chord
was identical to one on the Carlo Grante recording
(AIR-CD-9092, released 1993)".

"When Brian Ventura, a financial analyst from Mount
Vernon, New York, put the recording of Liszt's
Transcendental Études credited to Hatto into his
computer the Gracenote database used by the
iTunes software identified the disc, not as a
recording by Hatto, but as one by László Simon".

Neither of the above are or were "ordinary people",
and neither were Jed Distler or Andrew Rose. They
are highly experienced, extensively trained in music
and recording technologies.

You are on the other hand an ordinary moron,
and you deserver every insult one can imagine.

dk

[Dan Koren]

On Friday, February 10, 2023 at 7:17:05 PM UTC-8, Notsure01 wrote:
>
> But I have many of the GPOC volumes and really enjoy them,
> and I seem to recall that Tom said he was a key person in the
> creation of the great Philips Duo series - perhaps a progenitor
> of today's mega-boxes?
>

Tom was for many years Philips' manager/director of piano
productions (I don't remember the exact title), and thus had
a great deal of influence over Philips' pianist roster and its
piano recording productions. He was was also responsible
for Philips' inability to ever sign up top tier pianists.

He did not invent the mega-boxes, there had been plenty of
them before GPOC, e.g. DG/Archiv's complete Bach box or
Philips' complete Mozart box.

GPOC was a remarkable achievement for two main reasons:

1) it also included recordings that did not belong to Philips;
2) It included a significant number of Russian school pianists
whose recordings were not easily available in the West at
that time.

On the flip side, GPOC included a number of pianists who
would not have understood "greatness" if they stepped in
it. On balance however, GPOC was a positive contribution
to piano recordings, if for no other reason it provided easy
accessibility in a single package to recordings not otherwise
available. One can of course quibble with both the contents
and the ommissions.

dk

[Dan Koren]

On Friday, February 10, 2023 at 7:24:02 PM UTC-8, Pluted Pup wrote:
>
> Your Insult Generator has been consuming too much
> fuel, upgrade to the more environmentally friendly
> Hybrid model.

My insult generator is powered by Thorium.
It will never run out. Did I mention I am a
physicist by training? (even though I spent
most of my career in computers).

dk

[Steven de Mena]

On Friday, February 10, 2023 at 8:14:21 PM UTC-8, Dan Koren wrote:
>
> Tom was for many years Philips' manager/director of piano
> productions (I don't remember the exact title), and thus had
> a great deal of influence over Philips' pianist roster and its
> piano recording productions. He was was also responsible
> for Philips' inability to ever sign up top tier pianists.

I don’t think Tom had anything to do with piano productions at Philips. He was VP OF catalogue development. Reissues. He started the DUO series, for example.

>
> He did not invent the mega-boxes, there had been plenty of
> them before GPOC, e.g. DG/Archiv's complete Bach box or
> Philips' complete Mozart box.

Tom produced the Philips Complete Mozart box. I think the rear silhouette of mozart seen on the back of the boxes is based on a photo of tom in period clothes.
>

> dk

Steve

[Dan Koren]

On Friday, February 10, 2023 at 8:52:13 PM UTC-8, Steven de Mena wrote:
> On Friday, February 10, 2023 at 8:14:21 PM UTC-8, Dan Koren wrote:
> >
> > Tom was for many years Philips' manager/director of piano
> > productions (I don't remember the exact title), and thus had
> > a great deal of influence over Philips' pianist roster and its
> > piano recording productions. He was was also responsible
> > for Philips' inability to ever sign up top tier pianists.
>
> I don’t think Tom had anything to do with piano productions at
> Philips. He was VP OF catalogue development. Reissues. He
> started the DUO series, for example.

Tom was promoted to that role after years of service.
He did not start at Philips as a VP.

> > He did not invent the mega-boxes, there had been plenty of
> > them before GPOC, e.g. DG/Archiv's complete Bach box or
> > Philips' complete Mozart box.
>
> Tom produced the Philips Complete Mozart box.

Yes he did. How does that contradict what I wrote?
The complete Mozart box came before GPOC. And
Tom did not invent mega-boxes, there had been
other mega-boxes before the Mozart box, e.g.
the Bach box from DG/Archiv.

dk

[James Goodzeit]

I was active at the time he was active here under a pseudonym, and had tangled with him a number of times, but one time I enquired about a recording here (Michael Murray with Caesar Franck organ works before he worked with Telarc), he contacted me privately informing he had found it, and that it was available on eBay. So despite his persona, he was decent underneath it all.

[Dan Koren]

On Friday, February 10, 2023 at 9:28:02 PM UTC-8, Marc S wrote:
>
> Let me remind you, Dan, that this post is not about you,

Let me remind you, Marc Schiss, that you are a bigoted,
retarted, hyper conservative, ultra-reactionary Nazi dog
brainfucked imbecile krautkopf.

dk

[Flowsouth8]

On Friday, February 10, 2023 at 9:45:22 AM UTC+1, Steven de Mena wrote:
> From Tom's Facebook Page yesterday:
>
> "Tom Deacon
> 10h
> ·
> I am Tom’s partner, Stuart. As you all know Tom has been mostly absent from Facebook for many months due to his declining health. Some of you I have already contacted but my contact information is incomplete.
>
> I am sorry to have to tell you that Tom died on Sunday morning February 5.
>
> He had been in hospital since mid December. His health had been declining over the past six months and declined rapidly in the last month.
>
> If you should need to contact me, my email address is:
> swbhen...@mac.com"

Rest in peace Tom.

[Frank Berger]

On 2/10/2023 4:47 PM, James Goodzeit wrote:
> On Friday, February 10, 2023 at 3:53:26 PM UTC-5, Frank Berger wrote:
>> On 2/10/2023 3:16 PM, James Goodzeit wrote:
>>> On Friday, February 10, 2023 at 4:17:35 AM UTC-5, Marc S wrote:
>>>> Dan Koren schrieb am Freitag, 10. Februar 2023 um 10:14:41 UTC+1:
>>>>> On Friday, February 10, 2023 at 1:12:36 AM UTC-8, Marc S wrote:
>>>>>> Dan Koren schrieb am Freitag, 10. Februar 2023 um 09:59:02 UTC+1:

>>>>>>> Very to sorry to hear! RIP!
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Grieving over an unrepentent antisemite...
>>>>>> yet calling Menachem Begin "dreck" and
>>>>>> Netanyahu "Putin"
>>>>> Tom Deacon contributed far more to
>>>>> music than Putin, Begin, or Netanyahu.
>>>>> Remember this ng is about music?
>>>>>
>>>>> dk
>>>> We all know you have no principles. Have fun grieving over an antisemite.
>>>
>>> While Tom could be unpleasant and was an ardent anti-Zionist, whenever we hear a right-winger accuse >someone of anti-Semitism, it is more often than not a confession.
>> Yes, we know there are no anti-semites, only anti-Zionists.

>
> I never met a conservative who was not intellectually dishonest.

Perhaps you need to get out more.


I never said or suggested anything like that. Anti-Semites and Anti-Zionists are overlapping circles, nothing more, nothing less.

I didn't say you did.

[James Goodzeit]

No shit, Sherlock. Anyone following this thread would have seen that I wrote that, and that it was a response to your comment "Yes, we know there are no anti-semites, only anti-Zionists", which is clearly sarcasm given the context. I prefer to avoid engaging with clowns such as yourself and Marc, but that can be difficult when you spread blatant falsehoods, such as what you have written here and that widespread canard of the right that criticism of Israel is anti-Semitism (coincidentally ignoring real anti-Semitism on their own side). I do get out plenty.

[Frank Berger]

You are a liar or illiterate. I have never claimed that criticism of Israel is anti-semitism. In fact, I would suggest that frequently leveling that particular charge without basis is more likely to reflect anti-semitism (why else do it?) than criticizing Israel.

You put me in bed with Marc S. We have so much in common that I killfiled him long ago. Get your head out of your ass.

Also, you don't ever engage in actual issues. You just call names. Very impressive.

If I say, for example, that based on my understanding of what the Israeli government is proposing vis a vis judicial reform simply puts the relative power of the Israel Supreme Court to a level similar to other Western democracies (principally eliminating the absolute veto power the court has on legislation and eliminating the Court's appointing its own replacements rather than the check and balance of having the other branches of government do it) and that is therefore a fabrication that it is any way a THREAT TO DEMOCRACY, what you should do is consider what I've said, check other sources, and then engage me on the facts. Will you do that? Didn't think so.

[Matt Richardson]

On Friday, February 10, 2023 at 4:33:34 PM UTC-6, Owen Hartnett wrote:
> On 2023-02-10 09:49:01 +0000, HT said:
>
> > I'm very sorry to hear this. His Great Pianists of the Century was
> > quite an achievement. He knew the industry's ins and outs. He was one
> > of the really informative members of RMCR. May he rest in peace.
> >
> I'll echo Henk's statement. TD was one of the more tendentious members
> here and liked to mix it up. GPOTC was his crowning glory, even if it
> wasn't perfect. RIP Tom.
>
> -Owen
Yes the GPOTC was a nice set, but his Philips Duo series was probably more influential in the industry, no?

I enjoyed Tom’s industry anecdotes, but also memorable were were his ongoing battles with other members like Michael, Richard, and many others. He was certainly not one to back down from a fight in this unmoderated group! RIP

[Al Eisner]

I have no idea how available they were on Amazon or elsewhee, but the
point you are making here is surely wrong. They wee exposed by careful
analysis of the recordings by experts through a great deal of detective
work - what amounts to musicological forensics. "Ordinary people"
would not have had a clue about that; many (and indeed some reviewers)
did not belive the hype, even without having heard the recordings,
but that constitutes suspicion rather than exposure.
--
Al Eisner

[Al Eisner]

Deacon can and should be honored for contributions to the industry;
whether or not he overstated some of them, I think GPOC was a great
project, despite inevitable disagreements about some of his selections,
and I am personally grateful for it. And he did make some positive
contributions to rmcr. I did not much interact with him, and was never
a personal target, but on balance I think his presence here was noxious.
I see no reason to miss it.
--
Al Eisner

[mINE109]

On 2/12/23 2:11 AM, Al Eisner wrote:

> On Fri, 10 Feb 2023, Pluted Pup wrote:

>> Perhaps. I remember the Hatto CDs as a scarce item,
>> that only gradually became more available. Once
>> ordinary people could hear them instead of just
>> reviewers is when they were exposed as fakes.
>
> I have no idea how available they were on Amazon or elsewhee, but the
> point you are making here is surely wrong.  They wee exposed by careful
> analysis of the recordings by experts through a great deal of detective
> work - what amounts to musicological forensics.  "Ordinary people" would
> not have had a clue about that; many (and indeed some reviewers)
> did not belive the hype, even without having heard the recordings,
> but that constitutes suspicion rather than exposure.

Wasn't the story an ordinary person ripped a Hatto and the computer
ID'ed it as a major label release with another pianist?

Subsequent IDs were as you describe.

[Frank Berger]

Is there one person, "expert" or not, who from the start of the Hatto incident, said "How can this be?" or better, "This cannot be!"

The incident reminded me of numerous blind wine tastings in which the experts embarrassed themselves.

https://www.alcoholproblemsandsolutions.org/wine-experts-and-wine-snobism-exposed-as-deceptive/

The only thing I wills\ say of the Hatto affair (I've shared this before) is that I bought several hundred dollars worth of "Hatto" recordings directly from B-C. As the truth of the forgeries came out I e-mailed him and asked for a refund, which he immediately sent me. I was supposed to send him the CDs, but never got around to it. Still have them. Have not seen anyone else mentioning getting their money back.

[Frank Berger]

On 2/12/2023 3:21 AM, Al Eisner wrote:
> On Fri, 10 Feb 2023, Notsure01 wrote:
>
>> I was mostly a lurker years ago when Tom was active - so I never had the opportunity to interact with him - but I have also missed his positive contributions to the group. One thing he shared with all of us is a passionate appreciation of music -  something that is all too rare.
>>
>> It's true that in addition to his anti-Zionism he liked to insult Tepper and particularly Richard Loeb so his prejudices were very blatant.
>>
>> But I have many of the GPOC volumes and really enjoy them, and I seem to recall that Tom said he was a key person in the creation of the great Philips Duo series - perhaps a progenitor of today's mega-boxes?
>>
>> So, with all his faults, Tom will be missed!
>>
>> (And by the way, I have just been listening to Varese Arcana and somehow it reminds me of the squabbling going on in recent threads - I'd have to say that the percussion wins - in the music at least...)
>
> Deacon can and should be honored for contributions to the industry;

Hitler build roads and hospitals and loved Aryan children.

[HT]

> Is there one person, "expert" or not, who from the start of the Hatto incident, said "How can this be?" or better, "This cannot be!"

IIRC Lemken was critical from the very beginning.

Henk

[Herman]

On Sunday, February 12, 2023 at 3:15:31 PM UTC+1, Frank Berger wrote:

>
> Is there one person, "expert" or not, who from the start of the Hatto incident, said "How can this be?" or better, "This cannot be!"

I think I did. Not in terms of ouright fraud. But said it just can't be that any single performer is stellar in the entire repertoire. People (the ciritics first) are fooled by the sob story.

[Oscar]

I miss Tom Deacon. A true rmcr-er. Opinionated, knowledgable, insightful, funny . . . occasionally repugnant and belittling. His insider recollections and a lifetime's worth of listening, concert-going, glad-handing, etc., it all made for must-read rmcr. He was one-of-a-kind. One, and only one, teedee. I refer to DK as deekay, in teedee's honor, but deekay is no teedee. So, don't get a big head, deekay. Tom, yr contributions to the group are missed.

P.S. I remember when I came to discover that Tom lived in Silver Lake in LA. He worked at Classical KUSC-FM (and had typically nasty things to say about the LA Phil's GM, Ernest Fleischmann) and disclosed his residence as being in Silver Lake on Silver Lake Boulevard. Well, I lived in Silver Lake for 21 years (moving away in 2017) and asked where. Tom's old house was less than 1/4 miles from my place. I then told him that I was equidistant between his place and Ervin Nyiregyházi, the infamous "Mr. X" bipolar, sex-crazed, Hungarian-born child prodigy, who lived on Duane Street, around the corner, just to my north. Only at rmcr!

[Graham]

On 2023-02-12 2:36 p.m., Oscar wrote:
> On Friday, February 10, 2023 at 12:37:34 PM, herman wrote:
>>
>> Tom was acerbic at times, and he did not suffer fools gladly.
>> He was strangely duped by the Hatto thing, just like a couple of other pianophiles.
>> I liked talking to him.
>> His leaving RMCR was part of its decline.
>> A life well-spent, RIP, Tom.
>
> Well said, herman <fist bump>
>
> Tom's Legacy page: https://www.legacy.com/ca/obituaries/theglobeandmail/name/thomas-deacon-obituary?pid=201861304

A different TD!!

[Frank Berger]

You're kidding, right?

[Steven de Mena]

Tom’s obituary follows. It will appear in the Toronto Globe and Mail on Saturday, February 18th. I’m reproducing it here for all of his friends who will not have access.

TOM DEACON

On September 6th, 1941 at 6:45 in the morning, Tom Deacon began this miraculous thing we call life. On Sunday, February 5th, 2023, that came to end. It is for us now to bear witness to that life and rejoice in the memories of a life well lived.
How do you describe someone like Tom Deacon? A force of nature. Larger than life. If you look at what he left behind - 25,000 LPs, 15,000 CDs, 3,500 bottles of wine, boxes of recipes and receipts from Michelin three star restaurants and friends, lots of friends and colleagues who looked to him as a mentor, a collaborator and a sparing
partner - you see a seeker. All his life he sought out the best. The best performance, the best recording, the best meal, the best Burgundy and the best in people. He loved the hunt.
Tom attended Lakefield Preparatory School and Upper Canada College. He went on to study French at Trinity College, Toronto, continuing his studies at the University of Illinois before writing his Ph.D comprehensives at University College, Toronto. In 1967 he left for Paris to study at the Sorbonne and research his never to be completed thesis. It was here he found and explored his first of many loves, France: the country, the food, the wine and its music.
In 1971 he returned to Canada to take up a teaching position at the University of Manitoba. He was well respected by his colleagues and liked by his students, although they found him a little intimidating because he had a witty but sharp sense of humour. He can be remembered saying at the end of one especially trying day, “If I have to teach the verb ‘to be’ one more time ...” Teaching was perhaps not one of his great loves. But Tom loved to cook and it was in Winnipeg that he started his tradition of lavish dinner parties often with wine and cocktails leaving the guests with little memory of the previous evening. One year inexplicably a few of his classes were cancelled. Tom was practicing madly for a piano recital. Yes, his first love was music and he found his way into making that his life through the CBC. In 1975, while still at the university, he started working freelance, writing concert reviews from Winnipeg. It blossomed quickly.
In 1977 he put teaching behind him and left Manitoba. He took up residence in the idyllic family cottage on Hay Island, off Gananoque, Ontario and continued to work freelance for CBC, travelling to Leeds and Moscow to cover the international piano competitions until he was hired as a producer on the new morning program Stereo Morning. He always talked about how much he learned there, both in tradecraft and management. Tom often told the story of being handed an envelope by his mentor and executive producer with numerous tiny pieces of magnetic tape. These were the edits (editing was done with a razor blade in those days) of intrusive pauses he had made in an interview; a mistake he never made again.
It was also at this time that he met the person he called the love of his life, his partner Stuart. Their first vacation was, of course, to France. Fifteen Michelin starred restaurants in ten days, with copious notes of everything eaten and all the wines. He wanted to share the best of everything, the fruits of his hunt.
In 1982 he became the producer of his own programme, Live from Roy Thomson Hall. Two glorious seasons broadcasting across the country everything from Anna Russell to Leontyne Price to Emil Gilels to Claudio Arrau. He revelled in being able to share his musical idols, his musical bests, with the rest of Canada.
In 1984, with Roy Thomson Hall’s budget exhausted, the CBC moved Tom to Vancouver. There he hired Jurgen Gothe as host of his concert programme but something else happened. The synergy of passions and creativity gave birth to DiscDrive, the CBC’s afternoon drive programme that dominated the airwaves for more than two decades.
In 1989 as DiscDrive moved into maturity Tom looked south for a new challenge as Program Director at KUSC, a classical music station in Los Angeles. Ever restless for new challenges, in 1992 he moved to the Netherlands and began his career with Polygram.
At Polygram his life long hunt for the musical best paid off. Here he put his encyclopedic knowledge of classical music repertoire and recordings into creating legendary CD compilations of legendary artists. Since his great musical love was the piano, the realization of his life long hunt for the best was as the Executive Producer of Great Pianists of the Twentieth Century Edition, 250 hours of music on 200 discs - the largest CD edition ever released and he got to release it to the world. The New York Times said “It would be hard to imagine a more representative example of the piano in the 20th century.”
In 1998 Polygram was acquired by Universal Music and Tom became Vice-President Catalogue Development. In 2001 he returned to Canada but remained working for Universal Music, until he retired in 2005. He served on a number of international piano juries and continued to follow the development of the young generation of pianists very closely.
He will be greatly missed by his much loved and inseparable older brother John (Evie), his younger brother Bob (Janice) and Stuart Henderson, his partner, lost in a sea of CDs with Nelson and Martha, his two cats. In lieu of a memorial or flowers, have a nice meal and raise a glass to Tom.

[James Goodzeit]

On Thursday, February 16, 2023 at 8:16:57 AM UTC-5, Steven de Mena wrote:
> Tom’s obituary follows. [snip]

Thanks for sharing. Were his two cats named after Nelson Freire and Martha Argerich?

[Steven de Mena]

On Thursday, February 16, 2023 at 5:22:27 AM UTC-8, James Goodzeit wrote:
>
> Thanks for sharing. Were his two cats named after Nelson Freire and Martha Argerich?

Yes. He was good friends with Nelson Freire. I'm not sure about Martha.

Steve

[HT]

Op donderdag 16 februari 2023 om 14:16:57 UTC+1 schreef Steven de Mena:

Thanks. Quite a loss, also for RMCR.

Henk

[Dan Koren]

On Thursday, February 16, 2023 at 5:16:57 AM UTC-8, Steven de Mena wrote:
>
> TOM DEACON

>
> Fifteen Michelin starred restaurants in ten days,

This is what made him crazy! ;-)

Too much foie gras affects
not only one's taste, but also
one's hearing.

dk

[Roland van Gaalen]

Op vrijdag 10 februari 2023 om 09:59:02 UTC+1 schreef Dan Koren:

> On Friday, February 10, 2023 at 12:45:22 AM UTC-8, Steven de Mena wrote:
> > From Tom's Facebook Page yesterday:
> >
> > "Tom Deacon
> > 10h
> > ·
> > I am Tom’s partner, Stuart. As you all know Tom has been
> > mostly absent from Facebook for many months due to his
> > declining health. Some of you I have already contacted but
> > my contact information is incomplete.
> >
> > I am sorry to have to tell you that Tom died on Sunday morning
> > February 5.
> >
> > He had been in hospital since mid December. His health
> > had been declining over the past six months and declined
> > rapidly in the last month.
> >
> > If you should need to contact me, my email address is:
> > swbhen...@mac.com"
> Very to sorry to hear! RIP!
>

> dk

Of all people here in this newsgroup RMCR, Dan Koren is by far the most qualified in all respects to offer his thoughts and condolences (above and elsewhere in this thread).

I believe Tom Deacon, whom I never met, did not know personally and remember only from RMCR, would have very much appreciated Dan's kindness.

Tom repeatedly praised Virgil Fox (see the RMCR archives).
This is one of the most beautiful recordings by Virgil Fox I have ever heard.
I trust it is a worthy recommendation in this thread.
Do listen to it -- from beginning to end, instead of trying just a few excerpts.
(Although the music has ties to religion, I happen to be an atheist.)

https://youtu.be/IO3rEJNayx4
Brahms - 11 Chorale Preludes, Op.122 - Virgil Fox, organ
Played on the 1941 Aeolian-Skinner organ in the Hammond Castle Museum, Gloucester, MA
Recorded 1953
--
Roland van Gaalen
Amsterdam

[Dan Koren]

On Friday, February 17, 2023 at 3:04:54 AM UTC-8, Roland van Gaalen wrote:
> Op vrijdag 10 februari 2023 om 09:59:02 UTC+1 schreef Dan Koren:
> > On Friday, February 10, 2023 at 12:45:22 AM UTC-8, Steven de Mena wrote:
> > > From Tom's Facebook Page yesterday:
> > >
> > > "Tom Deacon
> > > 10h
> > > ·
> > > I am Tom’s partner, Stuart. As you all know Tom has been
> > > mostly absent from Facebook for many months due to his
> > > declining health. Some of you I have already contacted but
> > > my contact information is incomplete.
> > >
> > > I am sorry to have to tell you that Tom died on Sunday morning
> > > February 5.
> > >
> > > He had been in hospital since mid December. His health
> > > had been declining over the past six months and declined
> > > rapidly in the last month.
> > >
> > > If you should need to contact me, my email address is:
> > > swbhen...@mac.com"
> > Very to sorry to hear! RIP!
>

> Of all people here in this newsgroup RMCR, Dan Koren is by
> far the most qualified in all respects to offer his thoughts
> and condolences (above and elsewhere in this thread).

Thank you! I am deeply touched and very flattered!
I am afraid you are giving me way too much credit!

> I believe Tom Deacon, whom I never met, did not
> know personally and remember only from RMCR,
> would have very much appreciated Dan's kindness.

Tom and I actually met. We talked a lot about Audis
and snow tires. Seriously! We also exchanged a few
emails out of public view.

dk

[Al Eisner]

The Great Pianists of the 20th century series introduced me to Nelson
Freire (the pianist, not the cat), who became one of my top favorites.
And tp some others I grew to appreciate.

Curiously, IIRC, Deacon never referred here to "GPOC" or something
similar, but to "GPE". E for enterprise?
--
Al Eisner

[HT]

Op vrijdag 17 februari 2023 om 23:25:50 UTC+1 schreef Al Eisner:

Dutch? Grote pianisten van de eeuw ...

Henk

[Dan Koren]

On Friday, February 17, 2023 at 2:25:50 PM UTC-8, Al Eisner wrote:
>
> Curiously, IIRC, Deacon never referred here to "GPOC"
> or something similar, but to "GPE". E for enterprise?

Great Pianists Edition.

dk

[Bob Harper]

On Friday, February 10, 2023 at 11:44:38 AM UTC-8, Frank Berger wrote:

> And an anti-semite and a nasty person. Nevertheless, I get no pleasure in his death.
Agreed. As Swift said, any man's death diminishes me.

[number_six]

On Saturday, February 18, 2023 at 3:49:49 PM UTC-8, Bob Harper wrote:
> Agreed. As Swift said, any man's death diminishes me.

I'm thinking it was Donne -- but agree the line is apropos...