[log in to unmask] writes:

>Just in time, something wonderful happened: shortly after the opening of
>the Funeral March, MTT and the string sections went into a contemplative,
>pure, spiritual space, and made time stand still.  Of the zillions of
>"Eroica" recordings, I heard very few that measured up to this part of the
>symphony; it was simply glorious.  The Scherzo was fun and vibrant, the
>treacherous opening of the Finale handled expertly, woodwinds especially
>(and the brass a notch below, but still very well) surged towards the Big
>Finish, and when it came, there was nothing coarse or ostentatious about
>it, just right.

Again, I have often wondered how one can be sure that being moved by a
performance has more to do with the "players" playing the music just right
than it does to our capacity at any given time to respond and be touched by
it.  What I mean is this:  Can you be sure that you did not go into the
Zone while listening but at another time might have not thought much of the
same performance i.e., 2 movement-Beethoven 3rd symphony? Just Wondering?

Glenn Miller