Beethoven Symphonies - best perf + sonics on CD

Hi Lloydelee. My understanding is HIP is historically informed performance, which more often than not uses instruments that the composer had access to rather than modern ones. It can also refer to score modifications based on recent scholarship.

And this approach uusually involves smaller forces than modern interpretations.

Hi Goofyfoot. Your point of familiarity is certain well-taken. But in the end, it is my response to any given performance that holds sway.

As an example, I recently acquired Enoch zu Guttenberg's Mozart Requiem. He uses much smaller forces than other conductors, e.g. HvK, Bernstein, Richter. The SQ is astounding, with great clarity and space around the singers and musicians, but in the end I wished his orchestra and chorus were larger.

Certainly Merlinus, I can appreciate a large orchestra with the best of them. I've had a variety of experiences with different groups of various sizes in situations that may or may not come off so well. One of the most interesting was a performance of a Mahler work (I can't remember which one) where the motivation was to exemplify how music in the home was contingent upon people meeting with instruments, reading sheet music and playing the music themselves. Anyway, the band consisted of something like a marimba, oboe, trumpet, violin, cello, snare drum and cymbal and piano. I doubt if I'll ever hear Mahler played that way again but it was well thought out and rather interesting. However I tend to make a steady diet out of chamber music while listening to full scale orchestra only here and there.

Hey Loydelee, thanks! I requested the Gardiner cycle from my local library.

Great Goofyfoot! Look forward to hearing your thoughts.