Joyce Hatto

Joyce Hatto was a British pianist whose posthumously promoted recordings (issued by Concert Artists) were later shown to include performances taken from other pianists and retouched by her husband William Barrington-Coupe. The controversy became widely reported after digital metadata and listener investigation exposed mismatches.

Recordings released between 2002 and 2006 by Concert Artists were promoted by William Barrington-Coupe. In 2006 Joyce Hatto died; in 2014 William Barrington-Coupe died. The deception was detected in part through digital file metadata and listener analysis (reported involvement of Brian Ventura in the discovery).

Reviews recount admiration for the released recordings and the subsequent exposure of a large-scale deception. The releases were issued by Concert Artists and promoted by William Barrington-Coupe. The discovery (reported in reviews) involved digital metadata and led to a major controversy about attribution.

For:Classical-music listeners, record collectors, critics, curious readers