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.

128x128mikeydee

I wonder if any of the people who disagree with my preference for close musical encounters have had enough experience comparing seats at various distances.  When an event was popular, I could never get a close audience seat.  From the 10th row or so, I would suffer through the first piece, realizing that my home system of Audiostatic 240 electrostatic speakers, excellent solid state electronics, my fast, neutral Denon 305 MC cartridge on Alphason tonearm and Goldmund Studio turntable offered much more musical detail and resolution than the 10th row.  On a detailed Mercury Living Presence recording with close recorded perspective, my audio system was about as revealing as the 1st or 2nd row, although the live sound was more natural with that detail.  But the most highly rated concert hall, the Musikverein in Vienna was a sonic dog from the 25th row, nothing but a bloated echo chamber.  The solo cello sounded like a 40 foot blown up character in a street fair.  As the most famous hall in the world, with New Years Day concerts broadcast worldwide, it was always nearly sold out, so I went back 3 times to hear the same orchestra, migrating closer each time.  Of course, my best seat was the 5th row, but I couldn't get closer.  The hall had a big advantage of having a stage that wasn't elevated, so the line of sight and sound was good.  You didn't have to be a giraffe to have a height advantage.  Admittedly, the 1st row in most halls is way below the stage, so the line of sight is poor from the 1st row.  (The Carnegie Hall stage is a full 4 ft high).  So the 5th row in Vienna was pretty good.  But I would have paid good money to perform on that stage and be thrilled with that crisp sound with neutral tonality that was hinted at from the 5th row.

The most revealing and exciting ensemble experience comes from a being in a small chamber group on the stage or a good room where everyone is sitting intimately close to each other.  Close contact like this minimizes the bouncing around reverberations which smear musical detail.  OK, there are some nonmusical extraneous sounds.  But the greatly increased musical detail predominates by far, and even the nonmusical sounds are part of the total sound of the instruments.  Anybody who prefers not to hear the instrument noises by sitting further away is also throwing away much of the musical overtones, like throwing out the baby with the bathwater.    

Many years ago, I was privileged to play string quartets sitting next to an esteemed violinist.  It was a soft slow movement from a Haydn quartet.  All of a sudden, he played an accented sforzando that wasn't loud at all, but the transient impact and his detailed control blew me away.  I will remember this for many years to come. At concerts listening to other great performers from the 1st row, the impact was markedly lost in my 1st row seat.  Any further back, forget about it--POLITE BOREDOM.  

One of my favorite violinists, Henryk Szeryng, I heard in concert many years ago from about 100 feet away.  I couldn't get closer.  I'm ashamed to admit that I fell asleep from the muddy sound I heard.  What a letdown by comparison to his exciting RCA recordings with fairly close microphone placement.

@viber6 

 

regarding Szeryng, or any violinist on recordings, I find it hard to listen to many violin recordings because the soloist is overmiked, imo.  The perspective is unnatural, in that they sound so loud compared to the rest of the Orchestra

@viber6 , my friend.....as always, your personal listening experiences are yours, and that is all....yours. Your system, as good as you feel it is, would not satisfy me, the way my system satisfies me, as I look for and appreciate other important characteristics than you. I accept that we are " different ", and I understand you play violin. This is all well and good, but you continue to feel, your perspective of the " listening thing ", is the correct thing. The fact that you are admitting to everyone here, that you would rather listen to your system, than to be in an audience of a fine hall, listening to a fine performance, tells me what I have stated many times before about you on another thread ( which is no longer here ). You have allowed your " audiophile life ", to put more emphasis on the " sound of instruments ", than the performance characteristics of the " playing of the instruments ", and the many musicians I personally know, listen the way I do, and enjoy similar things as I do. I am not suggesting right or wrong here, but as you try to defend yourself, as being " right ", as being a " more experienced listener ", has not changed since we have been communicating. Your perspectives and your experiences, are just that....yours. I respect you...you know that. And I accept all this from you. But what is good for you, is exactly that..... good for you. And me ? I always state what is good for me, and understand the " me ". Music listening, whether live, or through our systems, reaches us all in different ways. I am happy to say, I know what I like, as you know what you like. Some have not reached that plateau, and are still trying to figure that out. As always, I wish you my best. Your comrade in arms....MrD.