Andrys Basten wrote:

>Even then the live performance [Kremer/Maisky/Argerich] of that work is
>riveting, and their (a few say 'over the top') 'portrayal' of grief over
>death, with its emphasis on anger, raw and very deep, is very effective.

Exactly!  Which is why I wondered about the "fix-up" session.  I think it
would have been cooler to release the *live* version.  It would have been
riviting, and they could even do positive spin that it was a real, live,
unedited, unplugged, as-it-happened recording of these great artists.

>I can see your point, but I think it can be also be taken too far if
>every nuance and attack is made 'perfect' because the audience, if used to
>the recordings, will notice the flaws even if they can't identify them and
>think it too bad that it doesn't seem to be quite as good as they remember
>from a perfect recording...

I agree, that is too bad.  I suppose that occurs, from a personal
standpoint that's not how I would want to work.  I think of it as an
assembly of the finest sections of various performances, including some
rough attacks or slightly out-of-tune notes.  Then the final product is
treated electronically to attempt to create a "live" acoustic resonance.
Even that step I would rather not do, and the next record we do will be
recorded "on location".

>On the other hand, critics/reviewers can be quite merciless with what they
>perceive as flaws in the playing on studio recordings.  I do like the idea
>of recordings as models or perfect-forms, but I also worry about the danger
>of audience expectations too.

There you are.  The reality today demands that a record be a 99.9999%
perfect rendition of the work at hand.  And this is very, very difficult
to attain, especially with limited studio time.  At the same time, let's
not assume that this is easy even with cutting and pasting.  It is difficult
to maintain the performance energy, hard to keep tempi consistant, keep a
large picture of the work in mind, and creat the impression of a
top-to-bottom performance.  This in itself is an art.

David Runnion
http://www.mp3.com/serafinotrio