Live performance subscribers

[agbassano]

I know this site is based on sound reproduction....but I'm curious to see how many people subscribe or attend live (unamplified) performances. I've read many comparisons among equipment, but nothing really comparing recordings or equipment compared to live performances--the ultimate goal (?) of audiophile equipment. al

[Dimitri]

Live performance is untouchable. i just saw the Don Byron Quartet at the Village Vanguard--it was totally refreshing. Live music is typically expensive though--more than the price of a great recording you can keep forever. NYC has an overwhelming number of live acts weekly, I can't keep up!

[FalconP]

I regularly go to live concerts, and I'm amazed -- and appalled -- by the fact that non-classical musicians ( jazz/ folk/ traditional) so very often resort to amplification, even when they're performing in a concert hall with good acoustic design. The music that should have been clear and perfectly audible unamplified end up being thunderous, shrill and muddled.

[AndreYew]

I subscribe to the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Santa Barbara Symphony. I also have subscription series for 5 different dance and performance series in Santa Barbara, LA, and Orange County. Summers tend to be financially painful because that's when the next season's subscription forms and brochures come in.

The whole point of this hobby for me is the music. The equipment is incidental, and the best it can do is stay out of the way (which it usually doesn't).

--Andre

[agbassano]

I totally agree Andre--at least in my limited experience. And it seems like every season they're watering down the series, making it better to buy certain performances (at least with the NYC Opera and the Met). It's not very logical how (I) value things.... I mean, I didn't bat an eye spending the money on concerts, the resulting dinners (in NY/Chi/LA you're looking @ $200-for something simple) yet I'm agonizing on spending similiar money on a certain amp for example....that will be with me long after the "performance" is over..... oh well--it's time for me to visit the Head-fi "couch"...once I start to open the wallet, it's going to be hard to stop chasing audio nirvana...

[Dimitri]

I have found that the critical listening I do when listening to my headphone rig has increased my focus at live performances. I have a better ear for instrument tone. It's fun to close your eyes at a show and imagine you are wearing the ultimate pair of headphones--then go home, put the phones on, and imagine you are in a live setting. It was great to hear Bill Evans's "Sunday at the Village Vanguard" after catching a real performace at that very club.

[minya]

Originally posted by agbassano
but nothing really comparing recordings or equipment compared to live performances--the ultimate goal (?) of audiophile equipment.

This isn't the goal for me. Then again, I don't listen to very much classical music.

- Chris

[zotjen]

Well, I subscribe to the Metropolitan Opera, New York City Opera, the NY Philharmonic, Opera Orchestra of New York, a Carnegie Hall Singers' Recital Series, plus I attend various other performances throughout the year. There is really no reason to even try comparing live performances to recordings. Even though a live performance may not sound its optimum due to the venue or a particular seat location (under an overhang, for example), no recording can capture how a live performance truly sounds. This especially holds true when it comes to singers.

Recordings, especially when listened over headphones, provide a unique experience of their own that shouldn't really be judged against live performances. It's like trying to compare watching a play in a theater to watching TV.

[stuartr]

I am a member of CAMA (City Arts and Music Association) in Santa Barbara, and I try to get to most concerts at the Lobero and Arlington. They are pretty good here, as many performers come up from LA when they are in the area. Andre, we should coordinate next time -- I don't know if I will be able to go to the concert on the 7th, but I will try find you at the next concert that I am at....