BL> I think it goes deeper than that. The first part of the Emperor
 BL> has wonderful bits where it swells up and explodes, and the QSO
 BL> lost that totally. It's the whole point of it. And in the third
 BL> bit with the piano it *has* to flow in a certain way.

 RM> yes, the left hand has a mind of its own there, sounds like two
 RM> pianists sometimes

  It's funny... I can't remember the tune at all! I wiped it because 
it was driving me mad, and it seems the automatic erase still works.
But it really flows...

 RM> Could part of the problem have been with the miking and mixing,
 RM> rather than with the musicians?

  Yes, especially the first part. In fact, that's what I thought it
was... some wimp with an ALC protecting his amplifiers.

 BL> But returning to your theory, I think music itself contains the
 BL> "correct" way it should be played.

 RM> That is IMHO a personal thing, or at most a fashion thing.

  Well... it's been 30 years since the last time I heard it, so you
would expect the new set of fashions to be impregnated in my brain, 
but I still thought the old way was the right way. I don't think 
music is like that. It's more basic than fashion for instance. I 
think the rules for music are more complex than that.

 BL> For instance, they're playing "Rising Sun" by the Animals right
 BL> now. It's an old Dixieland song and I knew it well before the
 BL> Animals ever existed... but THAT's how it's meant to be done.
 BL> The Animals got it right.

 RM> I know what you mean - my equivalent is Grapevine done by the
 RM> DAAS. After hearing that, I can't stand versions where the
 RM> singer sounds like he's having a marvellous time telling
 RM> everyone about his broken heart. But that's only my opinion,
 RM> plenty would disagree.

  Actually, that guy in DAAS has a very good voice, and there have
been other songs I thought he did very well, even taking the mickey.

 BL> I'm not saying there is only one version of a piece. I'm saying
 BL> that music itself has a spirit and a need, and that inferior
 BL> and superior versions exist quite recognisably... no matter
 BL> what you're used to.

 RM> And I'm saying it's all personal. For example, there's lots of
 RM> music I don't even understand, let alone like. Does this mean
 RM> that every version I hear of that music is wrong?

  Yes. If it doesn't speak to you it's mute, and being mute it has
nothing to say in *any* version. My best friend at Uni loved classical
music and it was a complete mystery to me. I don't mean the stuff that
everyone can whistle (Beethoven, Mozart, the good stuff)... I mean the
fat German ladies singing totally meaningless songs with no trace of a
tune; not even opera: the "songs" about spring and flowers and pitiful
young lovers, or Mahler... the crap you could write yourself if you
had a month to waste following the brain surgery.

  To me, comparing various versions of that would be the same as
comparing turds in a shit competition. Even an afficionado of shit has
to finally accept that it's shit.  

Regards,
Bob
___ Blue Wave/QWK v2.12
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