ABSTRACT
Authenticity has largely replaced the traditional concept of "fidelity" which asked that performers be faithful to the original intentions of the composer. Authenticity is concerned with the original external sound while fidelity is concerned with the original internal spirit. As conductors of other composer's music, Felix Mendelssohn, Hector Berlioz, and Richard Wagner had to decide where their loyalties lay. Mendelssohn and Berlioz saw performance as a primarily recreative act while Wagner was the first to see performance as a creative or interpretive one. In examining these three early interpreters, this chapter demonstrates that both authenticity and fidelity have their roots in the beginning of interpretation as a separate art, and that from the very beginning there is a connection between attitudes about loyalty and performance practices. Like Mendelssohn, Berlioz also makes a distinction between the technical and spiritual obligations of the conductor.
