OP
- Thread Starter
- #21
I enjoy some modern music, for example I'm a big fan of John Adams, but I'm afraid little of the orchestral music I listen to goes beyond Prokofiev in terms of modernity. I do listen to a lot of contemporary performances of the classical repertoire and whilst I wouldn't criticise it (well, no more than I criticise anything else) in most cases I do not find anything that hasn't been done many times before and if I already have a good recording then unless there is something new and original to be found in a new recording I see no reason to add to or replace what I already have. This is nothing new, if you look through the back catalogue although there are sometimes 20, 30, 40..... or whatever recordings of a particular work few of them are genuinely memorable (although most are perfectly serviceable and competent performances). Schaller's Bruckner is one of the exceptions, a truly memorable set of recordings. And sometimes a well performed conventional interpretation is just the ticket, for example I'm still a huge fan of Bohm's Mozart symphony cycle recorded with the BPO. I've got multiple recordings of a lot of works where I find that different recordings add something new or have their own particular take on a work as well as having a very good straight up recording, but even then it gets to a point where I question whether I want or need another version. From a financial perspective the presence of such a huge back catalogue must act against taking risks in funding new recordings.
On recorded quality, I think many older recordings are excellent and lose noting to current ones in terms of audible enjoyment in two channel. Some are less good, and I think my IEMs do expose some less great recordings but then not all current recordings are great either. I tend to only listen in two channel because I can't face the faff of setting up a true surround sound system but I do enjoy multi-channel music. Even then, multi-channel doesn't necessarily mean new, Steinberg's recording of the Planets with the Boston PO is in quadrophonic despite being the best part of 50 years old. I find it is a bit like audio hardware in that if the performance is good and draws me in then provided the hardware is competent it fades into the background.
On recorded quality, I think many older recordings are excellent and lose noting to current ones in terms of audible enjoyment in two channel. Some are less good, and I think my IEMs do expose some less great recordings but then not all current recordings are great either. I tend to only listen in two channel because I can't face the faff of setting up a true surround sound system but I do enjoy multi-channel music. Even then, multi-channel doesn't necessarily mean new, Steinberg's recording of the Planets with the Boston PO is in quadrophonic despite being the best part of 50 years old. I find it is a bit like audio hardware in that if the performance is good and draws me in then provided the hardware is competent it fades into the background.