Michael Steinberg Plays Beethoven

[Todd]

Way back when I kicked off my mission to hear every LvB sonata cycle, at least to the extent possible, Michael Steinberg's cycle on Elysium appeared on my radar.  Even twenty years ago, it was a rare, long out of print cycle.  In the intervening decades, I have occasionally looked for it, and I found the CD set a couple times, though each time it was ridiculously priced for a used set, ie, >$200.  When I found a used LP set for $40, shipping included, purchase was as close to mandatory as possible.  Finding extensive biographical notes about the pianist is challenging.  Most online information refers to the music critic and writer Michael Steinberg, who was a different dude.  (Discogs shows that Mike's picture on the site when showing the pianist's recordings.)  The liner notes indicate that Steinberg earned his master's from Juilliard in 1964 where he studied under no less than Rosina Lhévinne.  He later studied under Walter Rose, who himself was a student of both Schnabel and Gieseking, and for good measure, he was a nephew of Mahler.  The liner notes about the sonatas were penned by the pianist himself.  The LPs are products of West Germany. 

The cycle starts off with 2/1.  Steinberg kicks it off with a crisp, clean Allegro.  The dynamic contrasts, broadly and between hands, is finely calibrated, and the mien mostly on the light side.  The Adagio is taken slowly and mixes some gentleness into the mix, and the playing sounds mostly lovely.  It also has hints of middle period seriousness and unflinching steadiness of tempo.  The Menuetto starts off slightly more boldly, in a refined-ish way, and the playing becomes mini-sturm-und-drangy in the faster sections, while the trio is lighter, with very fine right hand playing that draws the listener's full attention.  The Prestissimo sounds adequately rambunctious, though others hit harder and go faster.  Not a bad way to start.  10/2 follows, and here Steinberg starts things off by pulling his punches at the start of the Allegro, only to pump up the volume before relaxing back into an undulating style.  The way he ramps up dynamics briefly only to instantly pull back is nifty.  His overall tempo is a bit slower than normal, but it flows nicely.  The Allegretto has some dark but subdued left hand playing married to bright right hand playing in the outer sections, and a trio that starts relaxed and gentle before upping the ante a bit, but not much.  The Presto closer bounces along with ample pep, energy, and a good time vibe, peppered with some hefty left hand chords.  Nice.  2/2 starts off side B, and Steinberg goes for peppy staccato playing in the Allegro vivace, though his tone remains attractive at all times.  Some of the faster playing becomes a bit congested, but the overall feel is just right.  The Largo is slow but steadily forward moving and displays some real passion, particularly as the playing ramps up in volume, which Steinberg plays almost as slowly.  The Scherzo starts all plucky, then backs off, returns to pluck, moves to an almost urgent sounding trio, then wraps up with a nice return to the opening material.  The Rondo most definitely meets the grazioso designation, sounding by turns lovely and spunky, with some deft sustain pedal deployment in passages.  49/1 finishes off the first vinyl slab, and here Steinberg plays the piece on the very slightly serious side but still keeps it light and tuneful.  So, all told, a fine opening LP.

LP two starts with 2/3, and Steinberg goes for the gusto in the very briocentric Allegro con brio.  It alternates between rushing forward and scampering around.  Ultimate clarity goes missing, but the G Fuel energy level obviates any complaints.  The foot comes all the way off the gas in the Adagio, which is becalmed and lovely and often just nudged out, 'cept for them towering left hand chords.  The Scherzo starts off pokey and steady and jokey, with nice clarity, though the pressing I have suffers from some overload.  The trio section is quick and tight.  The Allegro assai is taken at a somewhat measured pace, favoring clarity much of the time, though Steinberg does ramp up the speed in some passages.  On the flipside, Op 7 starts off with a brisk but not rushed Allegro molto e con brio with dramatic dynamic contrasts, aided by an absence of overload.  It's basically straightforward with few personal touches, and it works very well, indeed.  The Largo is suitably paced, has some bracing forte chords, but largely sounds affectless, until the drawn out, austere coda.  Nonetheless, it comes off very nicely.  The Allegro sounds leisurely in the outer sections and the trio sounds rumbly (and cloudy) down low and forward moving.  The Rondo closes out with a slightly slow, but not particularly grazioso feel, with a couple passages where Steinberg plays in somewhat distended fashion.  Very good, but not great.

LP 3, Side A starts off with 10/1, and Steinberg plays the ascending arpeggios of the Allegro very rapidly, but the rest of the movement is played more slowly than normal.  It makes for a nice contrast, but saps energy a bit.  One tradeoff is the springy left hand playing that sometimes hovers over the melody.  Steinberg plays the Adagio very slowly, making it more of a Lento, and he holds some notes for a goodly while and also extends pauses, offering a very gentle vibe.  Even the louder passages sound gentle.  The repeated left hand chords sort of drone on, and the whole thing sounds chill.  Nice.  The Prestissimo sounds just right, with a vibrant tempo and more vibrant boogie.  The sonata ends up having three more widely contrasting movements than normal, and that's swell.  49/2 rounds out the first side, and it sounds light and lyrical as it should.  The B side is 10/3, and here Steinberg opens the Presto boldly and nimbly, backs off a bit, then moves into the slightly unquick follow up music that nonetheless has an unrelenting forward movement.  It also boasts a playful mien is passages.  The Largo is slow, but it sounds quicker than the Adagio in 10/1, and even when slow, it's a slow burn.  Steinberg ratchets up intensity effortless in multiple sections, and the climax, while not the hardest hitting, slowly builds up to a satisfying level before backing off.  The Menuetto is slightly slow and controlled, and it offers a superb contrast to the preceding movement.  The concluding Rondo has ample energy and dynamic contrast.  This here's a humdinger of a recording, comparable to the heaviest heavy hitters. 

Vinyl slab four dedicates side A solely to Op 13.  Steinberg starts the Grave slowly and dramatically, but somewhat on the light side.  The transition to the Allegro is abrupt, and Steinberg leads with rumbly, somewhat indistinct left hand playing, over which the right hand playing pokes and stabs.  As he backs off, it becomes lighter again.  Some of the right hand playing sounds strikingly delicate.  He alternates styles through to the end, delivering a creditable opener.  The Adagio is less slow than some prior slow movements, and while quite lovely, it maintains a slightly agitated character.  The Rondo is quick and nimble, and pretty clear, but it is also mostly small scale, except for some forte blasts.  It's very much a classical take more than a romantic one.  Side B has the Op 14 ditties.  14/1 sounds crisp and bright and flowing in the Allegro, one abrupt edit aside.  The Allegretto is somewhat restrained but lovely while the Rondo is bubbly good cheer.  14/2 starts with a peppy and beautiful Allegro, though one may (or may not) want more pronounced legato.  It works just dandy as-is.  The Andante theme and variations often sound relaxed, and even the most marchy style playing is kinda chill.  As with the first sonata, the final movement is plucky fun. 

LP five starts with Op 22.  Steinberg starts the Allegro con brio in somewhat restrained fashion, and then, wham, he revs up and starts cranking out the speed and the dynamics.  There are faster and/or harder-hitting takes, but this is serious and light and energetic in near perfect balance.  The Adagio cools things off quite a lot, and the music mostly sings.  The Menuetto outer sections mix lovely playing with some more vibrant playing, and the trio sounds suitably bolder.  The Rondo starts off beautifully, but then Steinberg switches to some more vibrant styling in the second section, with a fast and bold third section, and then he returns to the repeats of the first two sections rather expertly.  Op 26 fills up the B side, and here the opening movement starts with a serious and formal Andante theme, with the first variation more serious and austere yet.  Then Steinberg mixes things up, delivering each variation in distinctive style.  The Scherzo is judiciously paced, with quite vibrant dynamic contrasts.  The funeral march starts very slowly and even more somberly, and while the loudest passages sound delightfully thwacky, the somberness remains intact right on through.  Very nice.  The final movement releases the musical tension of the march but retains a serious feel.

LP six devotes side A to both sonatas quasi una fantasia.  27/1 starts with a deliberate Andante, beautiful, poised, and restrained.  Steinberg then comes close to unleashing in the Allegro section, which is swift and hard-hitting.  It's a nice musical slap in the face.  The return of the Andante sounds as lovely as the opening material.  Steinberg then reverts to smack in the face playing in the Allegro molto e vivace.  Following that, he goes slow in the Adagio, as one would expect, and also as one expects, he goes for broke in most of the concluding Allegro vivace.  There's an episodic nature to his playing, but his execution is supremely fine.  This one competes with heavy hitters.  27/2 starts with a moody as heck Adagio sostenuto where Steinberg stays remarkably steady throughout.  Hence the remark.  The Allegretto bounces along in a pleasant, bouncy way, and the Presto agitato starts off quick and rumbly, before going a bit staid.  It's still quick and vital, but it lacks the same impact as 27/1.  It's excellent on its own terms, of course, just relatively less excellent.  Side B contains Op 28.  Steinberg's penchant for judicious tempi, nice clarity, and robust dynamic contrasts blend to deliver a very fine Allegro.  It's relaxed until it's tense, it flows until it roils, and it sounds large of scale.  The Andante continues with the alternation of almost springy sections and thundering passages.  The Scherzo is a high speed galop, essentially the polar opposite of Eric Heidsieck.  It sounds jittery and plucky, and very much like a Scherzo, meaning jokey.  The Rondo rollicks along, with tension throughout, some beefy forte playing, and a blend of early and middle period styles.  Groovy, man.

Lucky LP seven gets into some of the really good stuff, starting off with 31/1.  Steinberg starts the Allegro vivace with high speed and higher energy, zipping through, and he tosses in slightly distended arpeggios for effect.  The slower music sounds purposely clunky-cum-plucky.  He very much presents the whole movement as a sort of Scherzo, which always works well here.  The Adagio opens with swift trills floating above a slow-ish accompaniment, and Steinberg tosses in some personal rubato.  In a sonata where Sherman and Kuerti shine, idiosyncrasy obviously not only doesn't hurt, it helps.  After the opening, he kinds of bobbles along, and the return to the opening material and introduces purposely unsteady left hand playing to the mix.  The faster middle section material, more than many recordings, gives life to the idea of operatic parody, and here of comic opera, with prancing right hand playing and boisterous outbursts.  The return of the opening material again is faster and the left hand playing sounds subtly incisive.  The bass trills are subdued and rumbly, seeming to benefit from judicious una corda use.  The Rondo is light, some potent interjections aside, and cruises along on a not quite perfectly steady course.  In some ways, it reminds me of Sherman's approach, though less extreme.  Since I do love me Sherman's take, that's high praise.  Superb.  The too long side A (it should have just been 31/1) caps off with Op 79, which does end up a perfect side mate.  The Presto alla tedesca is quick and vibrant to start, and maintains a high energy level throughout, with lyrical asides and a delightful acciaccatura.  The Andante, in contrast, is slow, lovely, and somber, though not heavy, and the Vivace closer is crisp, quick, and has most appealing dynamic contrasts.  Nice.  Side B starts with 31/2, and here the Largo opening is slow and subdued to start, injects some sturm, moves back to the Largo style, and then the Allegro brings the drang.  Quick, clear, clean, with ample rhythmic oomph and dynamic contrast, it hits the spot.  Steinberg then moves back and forth, both episodically and with near maximum effectiveness.  That means this approaches the realm of heavy hitters.  The Adagio is slow, but Steinberg inserts some flourishes in the mix.  The playing is fairly cool overall, but it works well.  The Allegretto is all urgency and drive and drama, so it hits the spot.  Op 78 starts with a lovely Adagio cantabile, and then segues into a brisk, direct Allegro ma non troppo.  Little in the way of personal touches appear, but straight ahead can and does work just fine.  The Allegro vivace closer is quick, perhaps a bit congested in places, but any limitations are offset by oodles of pep. 

The eighth vinyl platter starts off with 31/3, and here Steinberg starts off restrained in the Allegro.  After a bit of subdued playing, he tightens things up, speeds up, and injects more energy, but the movement comes off as smaller-scaled and less vibrant that one would hope.  That's not to say it's bad, or anything, just that it's less oomphy than ideal, at least until the back third of the movement.  The Scherzo, though, sounds fast and bubbly to start, and has nice outbursts, and amply satisfying scampering across the keyboard.  The Menuetto's outer sections slow things way down, and sound beautifully lyrical, and the trio sounds low key, with the forte playing rounded off a bit, though there's some nice volume.  The Presto con fuoco proceeds at a comfortable rather than assertive pace, and sounds light and bubbly, almost early period in style.  There's nothing wrong with that.  So, in the critical Op 31 trio, Steinberg starts off very strong – world class, realy – then tapers off to merely excellent.  That precludes top ten cycle status, but only ten cycles can achieve that.  Side B jumps to Op 54, and here Steinberg goes for bold contrast, playing the minuet in lovely fashion, especially in its first appearance, while politely hammering out the triplets.  A certain refinement is maintained, though it's not too refined.  The second movement is swift and nearly relentless in its forward momentum, and Steinberg's staccato is clean and clear.  81/a ends the LP.  The first movement displays fine gradations of touch, and is played slowly, creating a sense of an almost mournful goodbye in the opening, and then, after an abrupt edit, it switches to more vibrant and at times wistful playing, before shifting again to a jolly and hopeful goodbye.  The second movement gives off a pensive, slightly anxious vibe, and the final movement sounds energetic, ebullient, sunny, and is swift without pushing things. 

LP nine starts with Op 53, and in the Allegro con (lotsa) brio starts off with proper pianissimo married to swiftness and then just builds up scale and heft from there.  Steinberg seems to be pushing right up to the edge of what he can plausibly deliver, and deliver he does.  This here's not a deep take, but a no-nonsense good time.  The Introduzione offers maximum contrast by sounding more Lento then Adagio, and it is both cool and pensive.  A perfectly timed pause leads to a gentle build up to the Rondo, which, when it switches to faster, more dramatic playing, arrives at playing approaching the energy of the opening movement.  Steinberg does pull way back in the slower sections, going for big contrasts for dramatic effects.  There are subtler, more nuanced takes, but as a just plop down and listen version, this one rates very highly, indeed.  This would make for a fine contender in a top 11-25 shootout.  The B side contains Op 57, and once again, Steinberg starts off quietly, but there's tension from the get-go.  While he doesn't play the Allegro assai in particularly swift fashion, and some of the playing sounds too focused on decorum, when he needs to light things up, do does.  And that's what matter most in this movement.  The Andante theme and variations once again relies on broad contrast, with all but the edgy third variation backing off.  The final movement, announced with some beefy chords, quickly backs off, Steinberg catches his breath, as it were, and then he moves into more bracing playing, though he never quite unleashes like in my preferred versions.  Still, none too shabby.

The tenth vinyl disc starts in on the late sonata, with Op 90 kicking things off.  The opening is punchy, with spicy staccato playing, and tension permeates the movement.  In the quicker passages, Steinberg's playing often unflows, meaning it doesn't flow, but it's clearly intentional.  And he does like to punch out the loud chords.  It's an uneasy movement.  The second movement sounds lyrical but retains a tautness, a tension throughout.  The sonata is slightly gruff, which is just fine.  The first half of Op 106 fills out the A side.  The Allegro launches with decent speed but compromised clarity, slows up, then moves back to quick 'n' congested.  (Part of this may be due to the sonic compromises that accompany too long sides.)  The movement is unsubtle, the scale sufficiently quasi-orchestral, and the energy level thoroughly satisfying.  The Scherzo continues on with the assertive, pleasantly coarse style right through, though Steinberg makes it humorous by playing the right hand tremolos very softly.  After flipping sides, one gets treated to an Adagio that starts off moody and tense.  He then backs off, introduces some transcendental playing, then moves into quick, tense and tetchy, restless playing.  Steinberg has a final trick up his sleeve as he slows way down for the coda, offering it as a sort of musical cooling off.  The final movement starts with a Largo that more or less maintains the cooling off feel, then, after a ferocious transition, Steinberg launches into a quick, clean, pedal-deprived Allegro, poking forward at quick, but not too quick speed.  He does not match modern keyboard wizards at all in terms of precision, but the vibe is right. 

LP 11 starts with Op 101.  The tight opening Allegro doesn't evoke late LvB sound, but it sounds serene despite the tempo, and Steinberg punches out some notes and chords for nice contrast.  The march is quick, with bold playing and contrasts, and a very marchy rhythm.  The middle section is very dry, pointed, and pedal free and sounds more contrapuntal than normal.   The Adagio marks the first appearance of late LvB soundworld goodness, and brings forward momentum to a standstill, in the best way.  The final movement, nice and clean sounding if not as note perfect as other takes, sounds like restrained celebration.  Not a world beating take, but a rock solid one.  Side B contains Op 109.  Steinberg starts with a first movement that melds middle period urgency and a late period soundworld, to an extent, into a satisfying hybrid.  It hits moderately hard and sounds elevated.  It's also a bit on the quick side.  The Prestissimo, unsurprisingly, falls into the hard-ish hitting category – more than many, less than some – and works well.  The way Steinberg swerves and weaves his dynamics stands out most.  The final movement starts with a lovely but slightly tense Andante theme, with some nicely strummed arpeggios to tickle the ear.  The first variation veers right into elevated music making territory, the second sounds pointillistic and more assertive, and the third sounds beefy and unyieldingly forward moving.  The fourth variation sounds like a midway point stylistically between the theme and first variation, the fifth sounds like a sometimes boogie infused third variation.  There's a brief but abrupt pause before the start of the final variation, which starts elevated but quickly moves to vital, nearly aggressive playing, before settling into near Elysian playing in the coda.

That last plastic slab has the last two sonatas.  Op 110 starts with some beautiful but taut cantabile playing, but Steinberg quickly shifts to more assertive playing, going for quick, punchy, and biting playing.  It lacks ultimate transcendence and remains a late-middle hybrid style.  Quite predictably, the Allegro molto is about speed and energy above all.  The final movement starts with a first arioso that is all about late LvB goodness shorn of middle period drama, though it's taut in the best way.  The fugue hits hard, sounds clear, and is a bit grim.  The second arioso is tenser than the first but remains elevated.  The repeated chords build up splendidly to a pianistic wall of sound, they the mood turns on a dime for the inverted fugue, which starts all gentle like.  Steinberg lacks the last word in clarity, and he injects some personal rubato, but it works nicely.  Predictably, the piece builds up to a potent, crackerjack coda.  Op 111 opens with hard hitting chords, backs off a bit in terms of dynamics, but tension remains high despite the unrushed tempo.  Then, after a slow and growly transition, the Allegro starts in, and Steinberg defies expectations a bit by going slower than expected while keeping the energy and drive high.  The Arietta finally finds Steinberg playing late LvB with full-on transcendence.  It's slow, lovely, and contemplative.  The second half doubles down on the good stuff.  The first variation sounds lighter, while the second ramps up the intensity and drama substantially.  The boogie woogie variation rips, though syncopation doesn't match the best.  The fourth transitions to more relaxed playing, the "little stars" are delivered in quick fashion, and the chains of trills are quick and bright and punctuated by dynamically varied left hand playing, sometimes restrained, and sometimes bold.  Steinberg does back off in some passages into very gentle playing, keeping the whole movement diverse, and he ends with glimpses of Elysian fields.  Which makes sense for the Elysium label.  The late sonatas as a whole come off well.

I didn't really know what to expect from this cycle.  I've known about it forever, but I've not read any reviews, nor have I heard even a note from the pianist.  His discography appears to be paper thin – the only confirmed recordings are this cycle, a separate issue of the late sonatas from this cycle, and a Chopin recital.  (Some online references to recordings by "Michael Steinberg" are tied to liner notes by the other Mike.)  This was a blank slate cycle.  Fortunately, it is most pleasing overall.  Some of the sonatas can compete with heavy hitters, and not one is anything less than good or very good.  My personal shorthand for the cycle is that it sounds like a more refined Seymour Lipkin – but not too refined.  That's a very good thing.  So, second tier for Michael Steinberg the pianist. 

To the sound, it's fully acceptable for an LP pressing.  Most of the sides are really quiet, and while pops are unavoidable, there's no frying egg sound to be heard anywhere.  The German LP pressing plant was evidently in top operating condition at the end of the Cold War.

As a fun little aside and trip down memory lane, JulieHN's sole post on this forum is about this cycle: https://www.good-music-guide.com/community/index.php/topic,2302.msg942961/topicseen.html#msg942961

[Philo]

These are some of my favorite posts to read, and it reminds me of something that I just read:

"According to approximate estimates the number of codices in Ethiopia and Eritrea may be as high as ca. 200,000, excluding scrolls and other manuscript forms (CITE). Several thousand manuscripts are also housed in museums, libraries, and other collections outside the region (CITE). The actual number of manuscripts might be even higher when taking less-explored monasteries of the region into consideration (CITE). An unknown number of manuscripts are also kept in private collections, which remain uncatalogued and unstudied. From this number of manuscripts only a portion have been documented, let alone digitised and thoroughly catalogued, although digitization and cataloguing projects are core activities in the field of Ethiopian Studies" (Elagina, 2023, pp. 97-98).

The vastness of a niche archive and the inexhaustability of completeness but the desire is still sweet and thus worthy of being and doing. Unironically, I find it aspirational, as I delve into my own niche archives, some self-created, some emergent, some just a result of my subcultural surfing. One day, likely sooner rather than later, I will include @Todd in my research.

[Todd]

The vastness of a niche archive and the inexhaustability of completeness but the desire is still sweet and thus worthy of being and doing. Unironically, I find it aspirational, as I delve into my own niche archives, some self-created, some emergent, some just a result of my subcultural surfing. One day, likely sooner rather than later, I will include @Todd in my research.

Here's the deal: I post my meandering scribbles primarily because it's fun.  The posts do serve a couple other personal ends, but mostly they're just fun.  There are no external motivations.  When they are no longer fun, I stop.  I have multiple, lengthy-ish scribblings that I scrapped before finishing.  Debussy's Preludes Book I after ~25,000 words (it would have ended up at least 50K words had I finished), Messiaen's Vingt Regards, LvB's G Major Concerto, a Biber Mystery Sonata thing, and a few others.  I stopped because they stopped being fun. 

After amassing so many LvB sonata cycles, I am now operating in edge/long-tail case realms.  Information in these realms is slim to non-existent.  As regular search on Google and other search engines has begun to falter, for obvious economic reasons, and as earlier native internet information has disappeared (entire sites and discographies are gone without a trace in the classical space, for instance), I have started using public facing LLMs to assist in searches.  Grok has been helpful in finding a few things, ChatGPT, Gemini, and CoPilot not so much.  I always have to sift through LLM hallucinations, and here Grok is better than the others, but LLMs can be handy with proper prompts.  Here's the thing, on more obscure cycles, I now see all of the LLMs report back to me what I have already written, sometimes verbatim.  That demonstrates the fragility of knowledge. 

And it's not just in this very narrow realm.  I see it in other realms, as well.  A couple personal anecdotes illustrate this.  I now possess an original copy of a small, local newspaper from the 1950s that had a below the fold article on the passing of a relative whom I never met.  The paper itself closed down last decade, and only some of its content, basically from the 90s until it closed, was digitized.  A century of what it published lives on in microfiche at the town's library, but there are no plans or funding to digitize the prior full century of publication.  The paper was published in the county seat, so it published all manner of locally substantive information.  Similarly, in a tiny town in Washington, an old, immigrant church once stood.  On my trip through there a while back, I went to see it.  Problem is, it had been demolished more than a decade before.  The internet assured me it was there.  I did end up finding a scanned copy of a local paper that covered the demolition, but it was decentered and unclear to OCR scanners, so the internet didn't report the accurate state of affairs.  To be sure, these are not particularly significant things, but they demonstrate how much knowledge is missing online, even from the digital era. 

I'm not a "Modern Dark Age" guy, troubled by the disappearance of even recent knowledge.  I just recognize that despite claims of the internet possessing all of human knowledge, it in fact contains very little, and that exactly as in all prior historical eras, most of what is produced now is ephemeral and will effectively disappear.  Heck, the overwhelming majority of state, county, and local official documents in the US from the early 90s back is not online.  Factor in everything, everywhere, and we, meaning everyone, know far less than we pretend we do most of the time.

Circling back to Beethoven sonata cycles, it is somewhat discomforting to realize that some of what I have written is now almost a primary source in English.  That just should not be the case.  With pianists like Irina Mejoueva and some other Japanese market stalwarts, native language articles exist, but they only surface with prompting.  The translations are often sus.  The same applies to rarities from other countries.  I see similar shortcomings in other narrow hobbies I pursue.  So much for living in an information golden age.

[Philo]

And it's not just in this very narrow realm.  I see it in other realms, as well.  A couple personal anecdotes illustrate this.  I now possess an original copy of a small, local newspaper from the 1950s that had a below the fold article on the passing of a relative whom I never met.  The paper itself closed down last decade, and only some of its content, basically from the 90s until it closed, was digitized.  A century of what it published lives on in microfiche at the town's library, but there are no plans or funding to digitize the prior full century of publication.  The paper was published in the county seat, so it published all manner of locally substantive information.  Similarly, in a tiny town in Washington, an old, immigrant church once stood.  On my trip through there a while back, I went to see it.  Problem is, it had been demolished more than a decade before.  The internet assured me it was there.  I did end up finding a scanned copy of a local paper that covered the demolition, but it was decentered and unclear to OCR scanners, so the internet didn't report the accurate state of affairs.  To be sure, these are not particularly significant things, but they demonstrate how much knowledge is missing online, even from the digital era. 

I wanted to highlight this because this for me is the heart of it all, or at least it is what I am most drawn toward. This is something I've been working on regarding my hometown of Lombard, Illinois, and I was originally spurred down this path by the work of Jim W. Corder who did the very same thing for his small hometown in East Texas - he's an excellent writer, and his books are monograph in size, so I would definitely recommend them - he says his method, and hence ours, is leucochoilic, and he ain't wrong.

For me, the memory is untrustworthy, I can only speak for myself, and that is why I am always searching for physical reminders that the thing that I am recalling isn't a vagary - my grip on reality, admittedly, can be loose, depending on the circumstances or my disposition, and much of those encounters and events were only notable to me, which means they were unnotable for everyone else - meaning that to find them is solely based on luck, but a luck I increase by doing my work almost obsessively.

And you are right to worry, especially that research often doesn't cross cultures, even in fields which claim to be global or intercultural, and this is where I think niche archives have a slight advantage because the subculture is so small that the members, for mere survival, will do things they otherwise wouldn't - for instance, learning another language, but the Internet is mostly dark, but that isn't any different than any other point in history - the average state of every human is abject stupidity.

And that is interesting about Grok, I imagine that was unexpected by you (at least it was by me).

[Todd]

And that is interesting about Grok, I imagine that was unexpected by you (at least it was by me).

Over the past six or so months, I've taken to using public facing LLMs to compare outputs.  For bland, research related usage, Grok has consistently been the best.  My approach is simple.  I prompt for plain language, functional responses, usually demand a double check, and then use bland, plain language requests – eg, list all X released between <start date> and <end date> in all markets.  Include Japan, Korea, China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan.  Since I can toggle back and forth between multiple LLMs for free, I can and do instantly compare results.  The output ranking is almost always Grok, ChatGPT, Gemini, . . . . CoPilot.  (In the past few searches, CoPilot has hallucinated two dozen Beethoven sonata cycles into existence; I sure hope paid, enterprise versions perform much better.)  For more standard reasoning type inquires, on topics I inquire about, ChatGPT and Grok are about even; Gemini is cleaner, quicker, less comprehensive, and more repellently synthetic in its output (it's HAL-like); and CoPilot appears to be missing some critical coding based on outputs.  I've tried the free version of Claude, and it sometimes outputs nothing at all.  For deeper dives, I have to combine Google (using Advanced Search), DuckDuckGo, and different LLMs.  The thing is, I swear that 10-15 years ago, Google standard search alone was better, but this is likely my memory playing tricks on me – my knowledge base was more limited, so revelations were more numerous in narrow fields.

the average state of every human is abject stupidity.

You always have been more optimistic than me.

[Philo]

Over the past six or so months, I've taken to using public facing LLMs to compare outputs.  For bland, research related usage, Grok has consistently been the best.  My approach is simple.  I prompt for plain language, functional responses, usually demand a double check, and then use bland, plain language requests – eg, list all X released between <start date> and <end date> in all markets.  Include Japan, Korea, China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan.  Since I can toggle back and forth between multiple LLMs for free, I can and do instantly compare results.  The output ranking is almost always Grok, ChatGPT, Gemini, . . . . CoPilot.  (In the past few searches, CoPilot has hallucinated two dozen Beethoven sonata cycles into existence; I sure hope paid, enterprise versions perform much better.)  For more standard reasoning type inquires, on topics I inquire about, ChatGPT and Grok are about even; Gemini is cleaner, quicker, less comprehensive, and more repellently synthetic in its output (it's HAL-like); and CoPilot appears to be missing some critical coding based on outputs.  I've tried the free version of Claude, and it sometimes outputs nothing at all.  For deeper dives, I have to combine Google (using Advanced Search), DuckDuckGo, and different LLMs.  The thing is, I swear that 10-15 years ago, Google standard search alone was better, but this is likely my memory playing tricks on me – my knowledge base was more limited, so revelations were more numerous in narrow fields.

You always have been more optimistic than me.

Thanks for this. That is all very systematic - it is not dissimilar to what I teach in my classes.

Do you do this weekly, or just on a whim?

You aren't misremembering, I suspect - they coined a term for it - "enshittification".

Well, I am an optimist by trade - I work with a new batch of 18-22 years old every semester - they continual give me more hope than dread.

[JBS]

I just did a sort of test of Google Search AI and Grok.

I wanted a translation of the lyrics of a religious theme song titled Abba, Abba ("Father, Father") that's part of a CD released yesterday by the Israeli singer Omer Adam.

Google provided links/info on several religious songs by Jewish and Christian singers (none of them Adam), links about the Swedish group ABBA, and one song by Adam released in 2017 called (in English translation) Two Crazy People.

Grok provided full info on the new album and the Hebrew lyrics, and a follow-up prompt that gave an English translation.

So Grok was clearly better here

[JBS]

Perhaps a moderator might want to move these posts to a new thread in The Diner?

[Todd]

Do you do this weekly, or just on a whim?

I'm a whimsical guy.

You aren't misremembering, I suspect - they coined a term for it - "enshittification".

Sure, but I find Doctorow's thesis, and similar follow-ons I've seen, too bloated and sloppy.  Standard IO theory explains the phenomenon cleanly using oligopolistic market analysis.  The profit motive and actions are obvious.  Degraded search and related tech performance drive up average UX time, which allows for more ad sales and data collection for later sale.  No fancy new regulatory tools are needed to address this, just targeted taxes on platform revenue based on source.  Ironically, Doctorow, et al, end up enshittifying the concept of monopoly power in their analyses.  I understand that any implemented solution would, at the very least, involve more complex regulatory components rather than, or in addition to, taxation.

[Philo]

Sure, but I find Doctorow's thesis, and similar follow-ons I've seen, too bloated and sloppy.  Standard IO theory explains the phenomenon cleanly using oligopolistic market analysis.  The profit motive and actions are obvious.  Degraded search and related tech performance drive up average UX time, which allows for more ad sales and data collection for later sale.  No fancy new regulatory tools are needed to address this, just targeted taxes on platform revenue based on source.  Ironically, Doctorow, et al, end up enshittifying the concept of monopoly power in their analyses.  I understand that any implemented solution would, at the very least, involve more complex regulatory components rather than, or in addition to, taxation.

Yes, whimsy is a word I would associate with you.

Lol, that is the normal route of an idea once it gets into the mainstream of academia.

To make my post more relevant, as you may recall my favorite Beethoven piano sonata is No. 30 (Op. 109), and a recent only has just made my top tier - uploaded to YouTube less than a week ago: Sohee Park

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zE1HgV1STMg

[Todd]

To make my post more relevant, as you may recall my favorite Beethoven piano sonata is No. 30 (Op. 109), and a recent only has just made my top tier - uploaded to YouTube less than a week ago: Sohee Park

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zE1HgV1STMg

I am currently in the zone on complete cycles, with both Korevaar and Paciariello under way.  Once those are consumed, I will be turning to select complete cycles on YouTube.  I cannot deviate from my course at present.  (My whimsy is reserved for non-Beethoven sonata domains.)  After 2027, or sooner if I listen to every complete cycle my ears can hear before then, I will likely switch gears to gobbling up single releases and videos.  As you keep suggesting new performers, my list grows longer.  Rather than creating the paradox of choice, additional offerings make my soul overflow with joy at the preposterous number of choices I have.  You see, I'm not only whimsical, I'm gluttonous.