Recording as Artifact


The more I listen to classical music the more I feel as though the sound of the recording influences my opinion of a performance as much as the interpretation.  The recording is an artifact of its own and necessarily should be judged as a total entity. Of course there are exceptions, such as horrid performances in great sound and visa versa.  A legendary performance doesn’t have to have great sound to be appreciated. But other than that, generally I appreciate a recording as a combination of interpretation and sonics.

rvpiano
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Sad to know there are folks here getting butthurt over my reply to a question the OP asked directly.  More than getting over me, someone might want to start getting over himself, LOL

Infantilism is alive and well in audio. 

 

I listen to many historical recordings.  I certainly admire Furtwangler, Toscanini, pre stereo Bruno Walter, and a host of others.

Yet when I listen to a stereo Beethoven cycle, say Von Karajan or Szell, it feels just so much more “right” to me.  I certainly wouldn’t want to take HvK 60s Beethoven cycle and re-record it with 1930s technology.

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