[scompton]

Wow, I never realized how lucky I am to have the NSO. They played all of the composers you listed, for both the NYPO and other orchestras, and a lot more. They do have the all Beethoven, all Brahms, all Tchaikovsky programs, etc, but they also had all Sibelius, Prokofief, Shostakovich, and Copland programs as well. And it's not just pop pieces by these composers. The Copland program was Music for a Great City and A Lincoln Portrait.

I just wish I had more time to go see them.

 

[Singapura]

We moved from Vienna to Amsterdam to Singapore which is like moving from the sea to the desert. Concerts are few and far between but I catch them whenever I can. The only type of music that is quite popular here is Chinese classical. It's on par with the best that the Western composers have made. I miss the Wiener Oper though.

 

[bperboy]

I had the opportunity to perform Respighi's "The Pines of Rome" with the Contemporary Youth Orchestra out of Cleveland State Univ. and although the recording is pretty good in terms of sound quality, it is absolutely nothing compared to the experience of the heart-pounding brass in the finale movement "Pines of the Appian Way".

I think that recordings are pretty good for intimate details, but they leave something to be desired on the really voluminous parts of classical music. Or maybe I just need a sweet speaker system instead of headphones.

 

[wareagle69]

No contest. Live by a wide margin. Listening to recordings whether CD or vinyl, headphones or speaker set-up is very enjoyable, but nothing comes close to live in the hall.

 

[Kilane]

Live, provided the venue has both a reasonable orchestra (i've been to a few where that's no longer a given) and a good chair.

 

[scompton]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bperboy /img/forum/go_quote.gif I had the opportunity to perform Respighi's "The Pines of Rome" with the Contemporary Youth Orchestra out of Cleveland State Univ. and although the recording is pretty good in terms of sound quality, it is absolutely nothing compared to the experience of the heart-pounding brass in the finale movement "Pines of the Appian Way". I think that recordings are pretty good for intimate details, but they leave something to be desired on the really voluminous parts of classical music. Or maybe I just need a sweet speaker system instead of headphones.

I think both ends of the dynamic range is much better live. At the end of Mahler's 9th, when it's just a solo violin, it's inaudible in recordings if I've set my listening level for the average level in the recording. It's beautiful live.

 

[FalconP]

Classical music is best experienced live. Granted, the performance may not live up to the best achievable in the studio, but live music will always win you over with sheer excitement. And even a remotely decent hall will give better acoustics than the best rig.

However, live classical music (in particular orchestral music and piano recitals) tend to be very conservatively programmed: some pieces are simply overplayed, and I'd rather not hear the Beethoven or Tchaikovsky violin concertos again.

 

[Akabeth]

Especially for classical, I'd choose live every time. I've attended a few of them and had a good share of goose bumps along the way.

 

[jmht]

Live, but it has to be the right orchestra. I'm from SF and the times the St Petersburg Phil and the London Phil dropped by, the concerts were just jaw dropping.

London Phil's performance especially destroyed the recordings of the Brahms Hungarian dances I had and matched the Berlin Phil Beethoven symphonies I worship.

We spend thousands and thousands to get our equipment to "sound like we're there", and so to see those performances is truly awesome.

 

[scompton]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jmht /img/forum/go_quote.gif Live, but it has to be the right orchestra. I'm from SF and the times the St Petersburg Phil and the London Phil dropped by, the concerts were just jaw dropping. London Phil's performance especially destroyed the recordings of the Brahms Hungarian dances I had and matched the Berlin Phil Beethoven symphonies I worship. We spend thousands and thousands to get our equipment to "sound like we're there", and so to see those performances is truly awesome.

I'd think the SFO's concerts would be pretty good to, considering how much I enjoy the NSO concerts that the critics blast.

 

[basic-chanel]

I always feel like the odd one out, as I rarely if ever enjoy live music.

 

[TheMarchingMule]

Classical is definitely better experienced live, and especially in a well-tuned acoustic theater.

Sadly for me though, I never go to them, because I always fall asleep within a few minutes. The music just naturally lulls me to sleep, and the soft comfy chairs are always too much for me to fight against.

 

[flashnolan]

Definitely live music; it sounds just like the real thing.

 

[LFF]

I have said once and I'll say it again - the best music is always going to be live. The reason we spend so much on our systems and gear is to obtain a sense of life-like reproduction. At least, that's my 2 cents.

 

[kodreaming]

For certain pieces, I will never be able to finish the entire thing if they are on records.
But in a concert setting, it forces you to focus 100% on it (of course, you need to be interested ..at least).

E..g, I went to a Mahler Symphony 9 concert. Honestly, I can't sit through the entire thing if I am listening to it on CD... But if I do focus on it, the music was amazing