Live or Recorded; A Faustian response

If I could hear/see great live music every day, I would. However, due to geographical, financial, and temporal constraints, I derive over 99% of my musical pleasure from recorded performances.

I'm with you both Shubertmaniac and Reprince. There is nothing like the emotional one time experience of the live performance. I can't recall a listening session that was so memorable of a particular performance, more likely the sound of the system. But oh the memories of the many live performances that are etched in my mind never to leave. And Shubertmanic thanks for mentioning two of the places that brings back some of those memories.

I too Rcprince search out good live performances over studio to capture some of that magic.

Monday night we were front and center when Vienna Philharmonic performed the Bruckner 8th conducted by Bernard Haitink. NO recording and NO system can even come close to reproducing the power, tone, detail and subtlety of that experience. The VPO owns this piece. The Furtwangler, von Karajan and even Boulez recordings with the VPO are better interpretations. I can listen to them anytime. Without them I would not have enjoyed Monday’s performance as much because I have been able to hear this magnificent work of music live only five times in 35 years of concert going. That said, it is the regular experience of live music that is the impetus for owning a high end system. Without that unattainable benchmark I would still be a mid fi system.

Plsl: I'm sneaking out on Friday to catch their matinee, if I can. In my view, the VPO owns almost any piece they choose to play. Heard them in Vienna last June playing the Strauss Alpine Symphony with Janssons conducting--no stereo system in the world can reproduce that experience. How was Haitink with them?

The best term to describe it was masterful. It was one of those very select performances where the conductor was in complete service to the music and did not seem to impose an interpretation, but rather lead an orchestra of virtuosos that CARED about the music. The tempi tended toward the slow side but it never dragged. The adagio was (as it should be) the centerpiece of the interpretation and it was shattering. The first movement did not emphasize the tragic to the extent of the Furtwangler and Karajan and I would have preferred that the articulation of the scherzo had been sharper but these are quibbles.

The sound of the VPO is so right for Bruckner it was glorious to hear them play such a truly great piece of music from up front.