‘The biggest fraud in music history’?

The Daily Telegraph has posted this headline above an attack by the American violinist Mark O’Connor on the Japanese educator, Sinichi Suzuki.

O’Connor claims Suzuki may have faked some evidence about his education.

That would make him a liar, on a fairly humdrum scale. It does not materially affect his teaching method.

Anyway, there have been far greater frauds in music history. For instance:

1 The encores that Fritz Kreisler ascribed to Baroque composers when they were, in fact, his own.

2 Joyce Hatto’s husband’s success in passing off great pianist recordings as hers. And then getting a film made about his scam.

3 Isaac Nathan’s ‘discovery of the music of Solomon’s Temple, fooling Lord Byron to write words to his tunes.

4 The ‘Japanese Beethoven’ whose scores were written by others.

5 Mozart’s marzipan balls

6 Leonard Cohen’s accountant.

Beside these scams, Suzuki’s is a tiny white lie.