I had previously written:

>>Orchestras and instrumentalists today have a technical virtuosity
>>unparalleled in the history of music and, barring some normal mishaps
>>-- horn cracks, oboe squeaks -- a concert performance can be as well
>>executed as a recording.  What a recording lacks, however, is the sense
>>of spontaneity of a live performance.

To which Karl relies:

>I believe that most musicians are more versed in a variety of gestures
>they will encounter in music, but I can listen to recordings of some of
>the musicians of the past and find great virtuosity.

I think I was not clear.  I would never state that there were not
instrumentalists in the past who were great virtuosos, with technique
that would put many of today's soloists to shame.  Karl mentions some
of them later in his post.  I think of Josef Hoffmann, Ignaz Friedman,
Arthur de Greef and others (my pianistic past rears its head).  What I
meant was that the virtuosity and technique of orchestral ensembles and
the players in them is probably better today than ever before.  I can
recall some pretty scrappy playing from the BPO and the VPO on recordings
from the 20's and 30's.

Ray Osnato