Why do Classical CDs sound less Alive/Real/Present ?

This thread is a great and honest slice of the true state of what so many people’s systems actually sound like.

And this is Exactly what I mean when I keep going on and on that most systems are choked with noise and we don’t even recognize it.

Once again, please send me all your bad CD’s - you know...the ones with the shrill violins, the harsh highs, that were recorded DDD, that won’t play well with anything other than tubes, that were made with bad mic's, or were made in a certain decade - having tackled the noise beast, I'm loving them all.

Whether the recording is attention-deficit or dire-digital is beside the point.

1. Listen to any recording of solo classical piano
2. Listen to any recording of a string quartet.
3. Listen to any recording of a Mahler symphony.

Which of these sounds most/least like a somewhat convincing simulacrum of the real thing?

As the shampoo instructions say, repeat and enjoy.

Paul McGowan talks about close mic sound in this video:

https://www.psaudio.com/askpaul/why-do-reproductions-sound-better-than-live/

Audiophile music is something I kind of hate. Its everywhere and used to demo very expensive stuff, especially on youtube and that kind of media, with 'influencers' busy influencing. Its invariably sweet, acoustic and simple. Sounds nice in the demo booths and does not stress the equipment.
 My systems must play Zappa well. I need to hear all the instruments and that needs something that can do that. My tube monoblocks driving Kef LS 50s do that just fine. They play all kinds of music well but detail is what I need, and get from this. I may need a subwoofer, but its not driving me crazy ... yet. ;)

Much of the genre is particularly difficult to get to record and sound realistic (e.g., choral music, opera, large scale orchestral).  The live setting of such music is particularly difficult to record because the venues are so quiet and the musical dynamic range is extremely wide (takes advantage of the quiet).  We hear live music in a close to ideal surrounding that makes home reproduction nearly impossible.  I don't think most people would really want the full dynamic range of a live performance--the quietest passages would be too soft for a normal home environment and the loudest would be extremely loud and difficult to reproduce; such recordings would be utterly useless for the most common ways people listen to music these days--in the car, or on the go in a noisy environment.

Recordings of classical music have always been meant to be a compromise between fidelity and practicality, and this is the case now even when it is possible to actually deliver a wider range. 

Most popular, non-acoustic music sounds like crap in a live venue and actually sound better in recordings.  Yes, the total live experience is more exciting, but, the actual sound, isolated from everything else is not so good.  That is not the case with classical, so the shortcomings of the recording/reproduction process become much more apparent.

I think many modern labels, such as Chandos, BIS, Harmonia Mundi, do a fair job or recording.  With some labels, the digital re-releases of older recordings actually sound better than the original vinyl versions which were mastered so poorly (e.g., 1970 DG).   Yes, a lot of recordings, including older ones, are brighter sounding than a live performance, but, I think the engineers are basically catering to preferences.  I hear a lot of comments about how certain recordings sound dulled on top, when they are not dull compared to a live performance.