Very interesting thread. And I have to agree: massed violins, for whatever reason (millercarbon and frogman have offered possible explanations) are very hard to reproduce. I play cello, and my daughter plays violin, so I've had plenty of experience listening to massed, and solo, strings live. But I have NOT had this problem live, as others in the thread have asserted.
It's curious, though, that recorded SOLO violins don't seem to suffer from this problem, although the quality of the original recording--as always!--is extremely important. Hilary Hahn's first Bach sonatas and partitas CD, for instance, is a gold standard for me: a test record for the proper, silky and rich sound of a solo violin.
I have a theory, but it's probably b.s. Violinists all play with vibrato, which constantly, and kind of randomly, varies the tone slightly. With a solo performance, this can be captured unproblematically. But with an entire violin section, everyone is employing vibrato in different ways. Thus, the massed tone of a violin section is extremely complex, not just at the physics level, but even audibly: each instrument is actually playing slightly above or slightly below the given pitch at any given time. Now, for some reason, the ear can resolve this in a live performance (or so I have found, anyway). But perhaps, recording and reproducing this micro-chaos is a significant strain on the technology....
FWIW, the DGG SACD called "Credo," with the Arvo Pärt composition of that title along with two solo piano pieces (including Beethoven's "Tempest" sonata) and the Beethoven Choral Fantasy, gets the sound of an orchestra's massed violins about as right as anything I've heard. The performances (Grimaud, Salonen) are also outstanding.
It's curious, though, that recorded SOLO violins don't seem to suffer from this problem, although the quality of the original recording--as always!--is extremely important. Hilary Hahn's first Bach sonatas and partitas CD, for instance, is a gold standard for me: a test record for the proper, silky and rich sound of a solo violin.
I have a theory, but it's probably b.s. Violinists all play with vibrato, which constantly, and kind of randomly, varies the tone slightly. With a solo performance, this can be captured unproblematically. But with an entire violin section, everyone is employing vibrato in different ways. Thus, the massed tone of a violin section is extremely complex, not just at the physics level, but even audibly: each instrument is actually playing slightly above or slightly below the given pitch at any given time. Now, for some reason, the ear can resolve this in a live performance (or so I have found, anyway). But perhaps, recording and reproducing this micro-chaos is a significant strain on the technology....
FWIW, the DGG SACD called "Credo," with the Arvo Pärt composition of that title along with two solo piano pieces (including Beethoven's "Tempest" sonata) and the Beethoven Choral Fantasy, gets the sound of an orchestra's massed violins about as right as anything I've heard. The performances (Grimaud, Salonen) are also outstanding.