When will there be decent classical music recordings?

I saw an quite interesting musical presentation several years back at Inhotim Museum and Botanical Gardens in Minas Gerais Brazil. It consisted of 40 B&W monitor speakers setting up an oval with the listener in the middle. of this quite large space. The musical selection was a Bach piece. Each speaker represented a voice or instrument. Each instrument/voice made an individual entry as is often typical in Baroque music but I must say there was nothing at all typical about the presentation. By the time all voices/instruments were playing one was surrounded by all these individual voices/instruments clear and discernable. The ultimate surround sound, maybe better than live? :)

I have several uniquely recorded albums (LP's) on the "Repeat" label. They were recorded without using microphones in producing the master tapes.

According to the liner notes, "all musical instruments employed being equipped with specially-designed transducing systems which convert the energy of the original sound source into a corresponding electrical signal. This output is then fed directly through the recording mixer and onto tape."

These recordings have the most "presence"  of individual instruments in my entire collection, including any of the so-called audiophile recordings I own. Do they sound "better?"  Well, yes, from a "presence" standpoint ... but there is something that is just not right. Oh yes, they have the "wow" factor, but as a steady diet? No way. Totally interesting though. 

Here's the titles if your intersted in tracking them down:

1. Western Swing - Noel Boggs on steel guitar along with fiddles, guitar, drums and bass. 

2.   Rural Rythm - Fiddle, fife guitar and bass. 

3.  Borodin string quartet #2  in D Major. The Da Sallo String Quartet. 

4.  Dvorak Quintet in G, Opus 77. Two violins, Viola, Cello and bass.

Anyone of these LP's will satisfy the most detail and presence audiophile freak on the planet. Really fun to listen to ... for the first few times. Great for demonstrating your stereo to friends. Lot's of "wow" factor. 

So, all of that "extra presence" the OP is seeking is/was available, but a steady diet of it? I don't think so. 

Jump on this one, guys: 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Norman-Whistler-Ted-Nash-Rural-Rhythm-Repeat-Records-RS-300-4-Dee-Ford-/1219...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/NORMAN-WHISTLER-THE-RURAL-RYTHM-MASTERS-RURAL-RYTHM-VINYL-LP-REPEAT-RECORDS-...


Frank

One little-mentioned label that offered Classical music with a very "immediate" sound that included low-level instrument sounds was Ark Records (LP only), Robert Fulton's (70's speaker designer) label. REALLY good sounding recordings, like direct-to-disc.

I think Tatyana69 is focusing on listening to the sound, texture, and detail of each instrument.  If taken to an extreme, most music lovers would consider this secondary enhancement or detraction from a musical experience. To me this emphasis is the tail wagging the dog. The power of a string quartet is not hearing the body cavity resonances of each instrument (though if captured realisticly it could be an enhancement), but the music itself.

"The power of a string quartet is not hearing the body cavity resonances of each instrument (though if captured realistically it could be an enhancement), but the music itself.""

If you played in a string quartet or concert (playing is surely one of the best listening options too) your sound image is quite different to listening and you get the sound texture - which is my desire. Where do they stick the microphones on normal recordings? At the front?
Surely a few bang in the middle gives half a chance of presenting the music. And there are so so many dull recordings out there. The majority it seems. When I was younger (in olden times) I had to go from shop to shop to find different and half decent versions of my favourite pieces. Now that is not possible so it is very hit and miss about coming across something worthwhile.
And why was Von Karajan so popular? Always had the most dull as dishwater interpretations ever possible! Killed the music!