Seacard,
You are correct about Jed Distler being the reviewer of solo music, so I suppose that I have to apologize to David Hurwitz as he was not the author of the Hatto reviews. However, DH as the editor in chief of C/T does have to share some of the responsibility for publishing those reviews. Apparently, even at the time of the publication of the reviews in ClassicsToday there were already many voices raised about the authenticity of these recordings although there was no definitive proof then.
Mb,
I was extremely interested in the Mozart and Ravel cds and was so close to buying them! The only silver lining to this cloud is the fact that now some long neglected pianists will get a little attention. Let's not forget that in order for a cd to be copied, something has to exist that can be copied. Who knows, perhaps they will be able to identify all of the original artists and then we can purchase those cds. Meanwhile, we can all sit back and watch where the pieces of this fall. I suspect that Jed Distler, Gramophone and especially Musicweb will all have a lot of egg on their face. As I don't subscribe to Fanfare, I'm unaware if the "Hatto cds" were reviewed there as well.
Riordan,
I won't start discussing semantics at this point over the use of the word hoax versus fraud, but in American dictionaries hoax is usually defined first as an act or thing intended to deceive or defraud. Clearly, these records were both a hoax and a scam. I suppose Joyce Hatto will now be remembered as the ultimate classical music ringer.
Re: Musicweb -
MusicWeb, which was actually in partnership with the label, Concert Artists which manufactured and sold the Hatto cds, is no longer offering them through their website. Now I have been looking into how one becomes a reviewer for Musicweb, and apparently all you have to do is state your desire to write reviews.
The main reviewer of those cds was Christopher Howell, and he seems to be the main reviewer quoted at the Concert Artists website. Many questions are being asked about all of the recordings from that label now!
Re: Concert Artists/Fidelio
Apparently suspicions were originally raised when some buyers of their cds noted that they were not original cds but rather cd-roms that they were receiving. Don't ask why they couldn't come up with the machinery to actually make a cd with a printed information side, but they couldn't.
Edit: Apparently the NY Times has picked up this story today. You can read their article
here.