Listening to music compared with looking at art?

[Blake Klondike]

I have been thinking a lot recently about the difference between standing in front of a Cezanne (or insert any artist here) at a museum, and seeing a picture in a book. There is honestly no comparison at all, regardless of how good the reproduction in the book is-- the original has a sense of depth and life and movement that is palpable, and it comes directly from how the paint was applied to the canvas. 2-D reproductions can only be a pale approximation.

I feel like serious listening, like we all do here at ASR has something in common-- we trying to recreate the experience of standing in front of Miles Davis or Chopin when they were performing. The question foremost in my mind is "how close can we get and how do we get there?", and the visual art analogy really clarified it for me.

In the case of visual art, you have only one option: look at a flat, lifeless copy, or fly to the room where the painting is hanging.

But how do folks here think about obtaining that rich, complex experience with electronic reproduction of music?

 

[Vini darko]

I find watching the preformance while listening brings it to life in a way that just listening can't. Sound quality matters less this way too. Youtube is excellent for this

 

[Blake Klondike]

It's true! Watching a string quartet perform on YT, even if the quality is sub-optimal, really adds a lot.

 

[StevenEleven]

Great thread.

Definitely, to me music performance has a big visual aspect to it, both in terms of the expressionistic aspect of the physical performance, to convey and amplify emotion, and in terms of the dazzling visual of seeing someone do something so exquisite or difficult, etc.

The Berlin Philharmonic has a high-quality classical video streaming library that I have subscribed to as a pandemic coping purchase. Great sound, great video, goes way back. The quality of the video lagged over time for much longer than they figured out how to get good sound. Costs the typical $10 or so a month. They have apps for Apple TV, Fire TV, etc. Really brings some classical music to life.

I also like YouTube to see some jazz and R&B greats that I never got to see in person. That’s a great experience too. I’m like, oh, that’s what Wes Montgomery looked like, that’s how he played, I only ever heard, never saw, him play. I sat spellbound by his LPs only.

So there’s no substitute for

 

[Blake Klondike]

So true about W. Montgomery-- his personality really comes through in a different way when you can see him play. I subscribed to medici.tv for the same purpose of being able to watch performances. They have a really super library, in addition to master classes, interviews, documentaries, etc. It was 50% off, which is like $60/year.

 

[Blake Klondike]

I think a lot about the question of how close mere listening can get you-- I feel like your standard ASR-recommended gear gets exceptional performance, but there is always this spectre of "for X amount of additional dough, or with X equipment it could sound even better". The issue is that at that point you have to make decision about "do I want more bass? better resolution? better sound stage?" and this is all because we can't go stand in front of the painting and look at it.

 

[Blumlein 88]

I too find adding video to music makes it much better than just listening. Even though both mediums can never fully replicate the real life experience for either sense of hearing or sight.

I also find for art or for places, the pictures or performances seem to revive more of the real experience in me if I've actually heard a group live, or seen a painting in person or visited a cathedral myself. Those never experiencing the real thing aren't even getting as much from the virtual representations as those who have experienced the real thing. But our modern media are better than ever at getting us there.

I was struck by this recently viewing shows about Notre Dame and the building of it. When I saw pictures before the fire, it reminded me heavily of how it was when I saw it in person many years ago. In a way that can't happen if you've never seen something yourself.

I find impressionsist paintings to lose more via reproduction than most types of paintings though you lose plenty with all great paintings.

 

[Hipper]

I agree that listening whilst watching film of a musical performance enhances that performance. However all I find it does is just gives me an admiration of the players abilities as I watch the players play. A live event gives the same but adds a being there feeling which can be unique.

I get the same from looking at a painting in an art gallery - I marvel at the ability and effort but have never got into the finer meanings of the art itself. It never moves me. Perhaps paintings don't do that for me.

When I listen to my Hi-Fi (on my own) I can still admire the players' abilities and their skill at constructing the music but the music itself can send me anywhere - the past, people, actions - a dream like state. I presume I feel so comfortable, secure, in my own place that I'm free to do this. This has never happened at a concert.

 

[TSB]

I'll go against the grain and say listening to music in my own home is superior.

There is nobody fiddling with their phones. I don't have to wait at the bathrooms. But most importantly, the playing is vastly superior to anything found in my local music hall. I'll take a crunchy live recording of a old master over the local dude playing beethoven 5 for the local greyheads any day.