Evaluating Classical Music Albums

We shouldn’t confuse recordings of concerts with recordings made in halls where concerts are held. While it is true that most orchestral recordings are not made in studios, most orchestral recordings are not of actual concerts. There are few recording studios that can accommodate an entire orchestra in a way that does justice to the music; for practical as well as sonic reasons.

I beg to differ.  Most recordings that I have purchased made in this century have audience noise present.  Resolving systems can detect this well

What I've noticed is that the orchestras' private labels generally use live performances (LSO Live, SFO, Royal Concertgebouw and Berlin Philharmonic, at least in some cases), while most of the commercial labels like Sony, Decca, DG and Phillips still do "studio" recordings, though in the orchestras' concert halls.

rcprince is exactly right. Practically no orchestral recordings are made in actual recording studios; that was the main point of my comment. My personal experience is certainly not the final word, but I would also say that of the recordings that I have been a part of, maybe a third have been of actual concerts.

Being a fan of mostly classical music (modernism, serialism, avant-garde, etc)  from the mid 20th century up through the present, it is often a fact that I do not have too many recordings to choose from. Many times I only have one recording of a piece.

Many great composers only have one recording for most of their pieces. So, I have to choose that one recording, or not listen to their music.

So far, though, most of them have been extremely good performances and recordings.