In the course of this thread a number of interesting suggestions have
arisen:

(1) A superior recording can influence a listener's opinion as to the merit
of a performance.

(2) The sound qualities of a concert hall may not be apparent in recordings
made therein (poor sounding halls can appear good in recordings and/or vice
versa.

(3) A given orchestra can sound differently from different seats in a given
hall (in a single evening).

(4) In recordings, the characteristic sound of a given orchestra; i.e., the
Vienna Philharmonic in the Musikverein Grosser Saal or the Orpheus Chamber
Orchestra in the Performing Arts Center, SUNY Purchase NY, both recorded
by DGG engineers, may not be apparent.  If one or more of the above is
actually true, as I believe is in fact the case, then I submit that it is
*useless* to compare recordings and do any bashing at all.  (Obviously
items such as tempi, wrong notes, mistimed entrances are apparent.)

Norman Schwartz
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