Karl Miller wrote:

>I was reminded of when I was younger and listened to classical
>radio...back when there was classical radio...
>
>I got the point where I could, more often than not, guess which
>orchestra was performing a piece, just from the sound of the orchestra.
>It might have had something to do with the sound of the halls, who
>engineered, the style of the performance, but it seems to me that it is
>more difficult telling the differences...perhaps because my hearing isn't
>as good, or because recording engineers are less subjective in the way
>they record, or the recording technology is more standardized...or
>because...

Maybe I'm getting old but I can also remember when I could identify
some of the best American and European Orchestras.  Now with the
exception of the Vienna Phil.  they all tend to sound the same.  Is it
me?  My father worked for RCA Victor for many years and we collected
many recordings and those old LP's reflected the differences in the
Orchestras.  Now I think that many of the Orchestras sound the same
because most of them have lost their unique character.  In many of the
world's finest orchestras the musicians are trained in the same places
and in the same way.  This has created a certain uniformity of sound.
Or is it that I am just getting too old and can't hear the differences
any more?  No, wait a minute, when I whip out my old LP's and hear
Reiner's Chicago, Munch's Boston, Ormandy's Philadelphia, Dorati's
Minneapolis, Szell's Cleveland, Karajan's Berlin, and of course Klemperer's
Philharmonia, to name just a few, they are very recognizable.  Another
thought, back in the old days, did the Orchestras have as many guest
conductors or did they tend to work with just one person?  This may
account for some of the change.

Regards, John Fiset