2. music
  3. 176418-89202

SQ or performance?

In classical music, how much does the sound quality influence your enjoyment of a particular piece?  I find it plays a large part. A recording is an artifact in itself.  There are many factors which contribute to the final product. And even a great performance can be sabotaged by poor engineering, poor pressing, poor microphone placement and the like. Conversely, a mediocre performance can be attractive to us because of sterling acoustics.   
In “historical” recordings we may allow for bad sound, but in contemporary performances the sound can have  a significant bearing on our perspective.
Also, our appreciation of a given performance can be affected by other factors.  For example, if we grew up loving a certain version, all others may suffer by comparison in our view.
 

 

rvpiano

Showing 2 responses by rvpiano

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rvpiano OP
2,819 posts
 

Mike,

I absolutely agree!

rvpiano's avatar
rvpiano OP
2,819 posts
 

I don’t believe that details of a composition that are lost is a plus.  
A recording which blurs the details is not an improvement. 
I’m not saying audiophile recordings that have razor sharp definition such as the highly touted Mercury Living Presence are the ideal. They are not what’s heard in the hall. However recordings which realistically and accurately portray the acoustic are optimum. 
Certainly  I believe the performance should come first. But, as an audiophile, I do relish in a palpably recorded orchestra, especially in the heavily orchestrated works of the late romantic period. 
As far as solo and chamber works go, again a too close perspective, although perhaps attractive, is not necessarily real.



 

 

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