Hatto hoax uncovered
Now that Joyce Hatto's husband has confessed her recordings were not her own, what should we conclude about this intriguing story?
The Joyce Hatto story was always too good to be true. And finally, yesterday, Hatto's husband and producer William Barrington-Coupe admitted he had confessed to the hoax. Having repeatedly denied the claims, Barrington-Coupe now admits to having copied the recordings and invented details of later recordings sessions. He claims it began when Hatto's increasingly painful recording efforts produced only mixed results, so he started splicing passages from other recordings, similar to Hatto's in their style and intention, until, as is now clear, Hatto's continuing efforts became unusable. All the pianist's acclaimed "recordings" are copies, occasionally doctored slightly and repackaged...
The Joyce Hatto story was always too good to be true. And finally, yesterday, Hatto's husband and producer William Barrington-Coupe admitted he had confessed to the hoax. Having repeatedly denied the claims, Barrington-Coupe now admits to having copied the recordings and invented details of later recordings sessions. He claims it began when Hatto's increasingly painful recording efforts produced only mixed results, so he started splicing passages from other recordings, similar to Hatto's in their style and intention, until, as is now clear, Hatto's continuing efforts became unusable. All the pianist's acclaimed "recordings" are copies, occasionally doctored slightly and repackaged...
