Indeed, I sit sometimes in the 5th row. When I am hearing the music, naturally it emanates closer and I can hear, feel and see, as you say, the performer. This does not mean that when I sit in my listening chair ( in my room....) about 10-12 feet from my loudspeakers, that I want a loudspeaker to push its presentation to me as if the orchestra is "in my face".
To say that this is an accurate way to record the event is fine or subjective, I agree. The speaker will take your recording and play it as such. ( reproducing it hopefully as you recorded it , up front. However, a speaker that is balanced properly, will push the listener closer... Only to the degree of its limits and hopefully its PROPER design parameters. ( voicing has more to do with how the designer hears and adjusts his final design towards the speakers brightness, presence and tonality... all of which some people are BETTER at psychoacoustically than others) . Hence , the final experience in your home may be a closer one but will not have the performer literally in your face when your sitting in your say, 22 by 15 foot listening room.
Point being... Loudspeakers should be balanced or voiced at a neutral distance with no part of the frequency spectrum " standing out" per say. This way, people like you can make a recording and its " in room" balance, while more up front, will not be excruciatingly and ridiculously ( lol)
singing 3 feet away from your ears.!!!
On top of that, the most accurate and useful frequency response measurements of a final and hopefully well designed transducer should have its "in room" response curve as its final destination .(as opposed to an and anachoic chambers readings).
these are the hallmarks of a great loudspeaker design, with relatively few peaks or abnormalities as possible. That may...put my point in a better perspective.
I Can add a few more names to my previous list. As for reviewer(s) I do trust would be Martin Colloms and the late John Crabbe. Speaker designer Laurie Finchman and Roy Allison. I must get out to hear the MAGICO speakers and see how much their accolades can stand up to my personal dissemination ( and pocketbook).
