Sat front row at the symphony...
Yesterday, I got to sit in the front row to hear the Pittsburgh Symphony do Beethoven's Piano Concerto no 1 and the Shostakovich Symphony no 10. I know we all talk about audio gear here, but I have to tell you, sitting in the best seat in the house (Heinz Hall) was an amazing audio experience. I'm not sure the best audio gear in the world can quite match it. Maybe I'm wrong, but I was mesmerized by the acoustics of the hall and the dynamics of one of the world's best orchestras.
What was most interesting to me was the Shostakovich 10th. There were some sections in that piece that were so loud, that it was like I turned up my system as loud as it could go. I had no idea that an orchestra could play that loud. I guess the term I am looking for is dynamics. It can also play extremely soft and quiet. This is what makes listening to an orchestra live so captivating, IMHO.
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Dynamics, both micro and macro, are truly an important and major characteristic of music reproduction, live, and through an audio rig. I am not speaking of rock concert loud ( which can be distorted to the ears ).......As the op says, to be able to go from soft and quiet, to loud, shows more of the passion of the work, by the composer, conveyed through the conductor and the orchestra. Without it, realism is lost.....This has been my continued experience for over 50 years, and without deviating from the purpose of this thread, my tweaked and modified Lascalas, allows these characteristics to shine through, with any and all amplifiers. Captivating, for sure...and with all types of music. It is wonderful that the op experienced this, and a welcome to the Audiogon community, to share in this excitement. Bravo ! I am yet to hear an audio system, that captures what the op ( as well as myself and others ) has experienced, as the recordings themselves are a major limiting factor. Enjoy, and my best....always, MrD. |
@mikeydee , " He used dynamics in his band ". AB & the JMs must have been a wonderful experience as well. Every live, unamplified performance of any kind of music I experienced, showed an amazing amount of dynamics, which has not been duplicated, ime, ever, with an audio rig. Horns come closest to portraying dynamics, again, ime, but still not the same, as the real thing. My best always, MrD. |
viber6 -- Oh yeah. A long, long time ago I saw the Preservation Hall Band at Preservation Hall. Truly excellent. It didn't hurt that I was maybe 16 at the time and was able to get a beer (my let's-have-fun older cousin headed up the trip, not my parents). I later saw the Preservation Hall Jazz Band at a slightly different locale, the tony Ambassador Auditorium in Pasadena. Thanks for jogging my memory! |
