Norman Lebrecht replies to Satoshi and me:

>Satoshi Akima wrote:
>
>>Recordings may be an evil but they are equally necessary.  Imagine the
>>sort of help it would provide us had J.S. Bach left recordings of his own
>>works? Recording is a critical way of documenting musical history.  Indeed
>>if it were not for recordings I doubt we would even be discussing Klemperer
>>at all.
>
>I don't deny the value of recording as a point of reference.  But I do not
>consider listening to a record to be a genuine musical experience.  Music
>must posses the ability to surprise and shock.  A recording, once heard,
>remains the same for all time. ...

On the other hand, you live in London and have access to many live concerts
from world-class performers.  For me (and probably more people), neither of
those things is true.  It's an attitude you can afford to take and I can't.

I should say that I do regularly attend live performances in New Orleans,
but I can't say that most of them live up to, say, a Chailly concert.

Steve Schwartz