I haven't heard the recordings, but I would imagine the biggest benefit of multichannel orchestral recording is capturing the sound of the recording hall as opposed to putting you in the lap of the second violinist, though that could be fun too. 😆
Several Japanese companies, Sony and Yamaha I believe, have attempted to leverage surround speakers to create this kind of in-the-hall experience. It all sounded pretty hokey at the time, but perhaps with more processing power available today it sounds better?