Musicality" in a system? What IS that ?

An illuminating rendition, indeed! I wonder if we could stretch Katharina's & frogman's proposition to say (borrowing Detlof's term) that musicality is the capability of evoking "gestalt" of a performance in which we did not and COULD not partake.. I'm thinking of recordings, taking place during a specific event or when the THEN atmosphere was emotionally charged, of which, most of us have no similar experiential reference... can something of that atmosphere filander through even for a fleeting moment. I'm thinking, say, of a performance of Beethoven's 5th piano Concerto by Gieseking / Orchestra of the 3rd Reich (!!)/ A. Rother. Allegedly, A. Hitler was present. Gieseking, starts to sound (to my ears) hysterical as of the adaggio, and continues unto the end. There is a disturbing edge to the sound -- it's not the recording which, for the time, is excellent (and in nascent stereo!!). Subjectivity? No doubt. Am I prone to "suggestibility"? I did not read the blurb: this is a friend's CD, he wanted to surprise me.
Thank you for making the exchanges on this thread ever more fascinating.
Greg

Greg, I think your point is of great validity and importance. I would say, if we get an inkling of the "gestalt" of a performance, can feel something of the general atmosphere, as in your striking example, especially of course in suroundings and circumstances we are unfamiliar with, then we have a music system of quality.
Thanks to your insight shared with us, you have now given me personally an explanation, why I prefer live recordings so much, inspite of the recording drawbacks they might have. You put out the lights and are often more easily than not drawn into the performance with a superior system at your disposal. Cheers,

Off at a tangent, if I may. The benediction of the NET is we can get together virtually, and communicate. The curse is, we are (I am) still far away geographically. Too bad we can't get together and share the experiences related in our exchanges...
My best to all.

Greg, how true. This however is beter than nothing at all. Warm greetings to all who participated and thankyou. I learnt a lot and got new directions to ruminate on and ponder about. A great gift in itself!!

Regarding getting together, it is true that most of us are separated by distance. Not all though. A group located in the SF Bay Area hooked up via the Audio Asylum and arranged a get together. Everyone brought their own music and a bottle of wine. We spent a very pleasant afternoon listening to our host's system in a variety of configurations (he had more gear than a fellow ought to) and sharing insights and experiences. There were only four of us and the small size was much more relaxed than a big club meeting.

Though about to move, so it will be at least a couple of months before this happens, I'm planning on hosting another of these get togethers. Anyone in the Bay Area that is intersted should let me know if they'd like to attend. Out of towners are welcome to the couch, too.