Live or Recorded; A Faustian response

Monday night we were front and center when Vienna Philharmonic performed the Bruckner 8th conducted by Bernard Haitink. NO recording and NO system can even come close to reproducing the power, tone, detail and subtlety of that experience. The VPO owns this piece. The Furtwangler, von Karajan and even Boulez recordings with the VPO are better interpretations. I can listen to them anytime. Without them I would not have enjoyed Monday’s performance as much because I have been able to hear this magnificent work of music live only five times in 35 years of concert going. That said, it is the regular experience of live music that is the impetus for owning a high end system. Without that unattainable benchmark I would still be a mid fi system.

Plsl: I'm sneaking out on Friday to catch their matinee, if I can. In my view, the VPO owns almost any piece they choose to play. Heard them in Vienna last June playing the Strauss Alpine Symphony with Janssons conducting--no stereo system in the world can reproduce that experience. How was Haitink with them?

The best term to describe it was masterful. It was one of those very select performances where the conductor was in complete service to the music and did not seem to impose an interpretation, but rather lead an orchestra of virtuosos that CARED about the music. The tempi tended toward the slow side but it never dragged. The adagio was (as it should be) the centerpiece of the interpretation and it was shattering. The first movement did not emphasize the tragic to the extent of the Furtwangler and Karajan and I would have preferred that the articulation of the scherzo had been sharper but these are quibbles.

The sound of the VPO is so right for Bruckner it was glorious to hear them play such a truly great piece of music from up front.

Do you need the VPO to get that experiential feeling?
My friend(who is a great guitarist) doing lewd lyrics to Gloria on his Martin acoustic guitar?? My wife on her
accordion playing the Tic Tock Polka?? My granddaughter
with a penny whistle??? All live events right???? Do we draw a line and say only VPO with Haitink or the Zurich with Zinman are the only experiences that are memorable or worthy of our attention???If your daughter was learning to play the Star Spangled Banner on her clarinet would you shoo her away and say go away!! I think not!!! You would want to experience that with your heart and soul.And that experience existentially( an authentic experience-Heidegger again) is pure music.

Well put, sir! You could add to that my wife's (off-key) singing to the Gilbert & Sullivan Songbook record I got from Sdcampbell--thanks, SD, it's been a lot of fun!