perhapss
Headphoneus Supremus
Now you are confusing me.
You are very right about the polish and details of many recent recordings and I almost feel superficial about it.
But this polish is something I actually seldom strive for in Baroque music or Bach pieces. In fact one of my favorite Brandenburg recordings is that of Jordi Savall and I wouldn't call his performance that polished.
With Bach's sacred choral works (not the secular cantatas) I prefer a certain degree of polish of the choir and tempi (or pulse if you like) and I think Herreweghe is ideal here. Leonhardt I find too 'square'? Maybe too earthy if you like?
I don't know how to define it.
In general my preferences are rather peculiar when it comes to perfection and polish in classical music. I hate a polished sound in Beethoven for instance, but I can handle Karajan pretty well in Beethoven. Boulez' highly polished and refined renditions of Bartók's orchestral music I like very very much and this goes against my musical intuition: "Bartók's music needs to be rough around the edges". Well apparently not always
The achilles heel of perfection in classical music is that you don't realize how complex and difficult some music is. It is always refreshing and mind/ear opening to listen to second tier orchestras at times, it can give you a better idea about the structure of the music than a virtuosic performance. Unfortunately the skill and quality of most orchestras is extremely high nowadays...
I understand your points.I think.
Interestingly I didn`t mention Savall, but now that you have, I often find his work interesting, not because of polish, but because he has such a distinctly personal approach.
I can always recognize him when I hear him but depite that, I usually hear something new in the works he performs.
And I think "earthy" is often an apt description of Leonhardt`s work.
Sometimes I feel like his recordings seem a little more human( I feel similarly regarding Savall sometimes) than a lot of other newer folks who sometimes come across as superhuman(often in an amazing way to me) as well.
All that said, I enjoy all the ensembles/performers you mention.
I am particuliarly fond of Freiburger Barokorchester and Herreweghe.
Actually , any performance (including 2nd tier ensembles, especially live) that gives me access to something new (for me) in great compositions; I welcome.
