SQ or performance?

In classical music, how much does the sound quality influence your enjoyment of a particular piece? I find it plays a large part. A recording is an artifact in itself. There are many factors which contribute to the final product. And even a great performance can be sabotaged by poor engineering, poor pressing, poor microphone placement and the like. Conversely, a mediocre performance can be attractive to us because of sterling acoustics.
In “historical” recordings we may allow for bad sound, but in contemporary performances the sound can have a significant bearing on our perspective.
Also, our appreciation of a given performance can be affected by other factors. For example, if we grew up loving a certain version, all others may suffer by comparison in our view.

rvpiano04-12-2022 6:13pm

...
43 posts total
View entire discussion

mahgister Details Discussions Posts This discussion Message User 13,192 posts 04-12-2022 at 11:05pm Copy Comment URL Report Comment Edit Delete Someone who know how to play Scriabin and has been well recorded... Alas! he recorded only few sparse Scriabin pieces...
mahgister Details Discussions Posts This discussion Message User 13,192 posts 04-12-2022 at 11:11pm Copy Comment URL Report Comment Edit Delete I loved sound quality... It takes me 2 years of acoustic experiments to create my audio room...I am retired happily because it takes me daily experiments with a huge number of devices...Then i love GOOD SOUND more than most here... But sound quality dont hold a candle to musical interpretation... If you think the opposite you listen sound through music yes, but you dont feel music through sound , sorry.... Test your heart...Not your ears pleasure here... Listen to this bad recording of the greatest Lizst interpretation i ever listened to... Beware it is not "beautiful", beautiful is way short of divine.... In love just beautiful is no more enough to feel the expression till the glass overflows... It overflows here... Do you think Liszt mesmerized crowds and any other pianist in his times with only a "beautuful" sound? No he plays like an earth shattering never listen to recreation of music....😊 If you are annoyed here, go back to sound listening probably in a not so good room acoustic anyway because most audiophile with costly gear dont even adress acoustic .... A paradox no? 😁
mahgister Details Discussions Posts This discussion Message User 13,192 posts 04-12-2022 at 11:37pm Copy Comment URL Report Comment Edit Delete Who give a damn about a better recording after listening to that...
mahgister Details Discussions Posts This discussion Message User 13,192 posts 04-12-2022 at 11:39pm Copy Comment URL Report Comment Edit Delete Perhaps i am not an audiophile after all.... Performance over S.Q. all time if the performer is a god or an angel....Or a demonic entity... 😁😊
mahgister Details Discussions Posts This discussion Message User 13,192 posts 04-12-2022 at 11:46pm Copy Comment URL Report Comment Edit Delete And perhaps the greatest sitar player with Ravi Shankar ... I dont give a damn about a sound who is not extraordinary but just listenable...