Buy the Right Classical Recording
Chosing the philharmonic orchestra and conductor you want from Bernstein to von Karajan.
Does it really make a difference which recording of a classical work a listener purchases? Knowing the conductor and orchestra variation can make all the difference.
The classical genre is filled with many recordings of the same work, each performed by a different orchestra and conductor. A prospective listener might ask what difference it makes which particular recording he or she purchases.
fter all, Beethoven's 9th Symphony will be Beethoven's 9th Symphony no matter who performs it, right? Technically, the answer may be yes, but a good deal of a work's character is created through the performance. The individual personalities and styles of each major symphony and conductor will make each recorded version of a work different.
Knowing the quirks of each philharmonic group ensures that the Beethoven's 9th that you buy will be the Beethoven's 9th that you actually want to hear. For example, finding a well-known orchestra such as the Vienna Philharmonic or the New York Philharmonic ensures that you will get a performance from a group with the resources to hire top musicians: technical skill affects the clarity and precision of the notes you will hear.
However, technical skill is not the only aspect that affects performance; stylistic interpretation is also important. In a symphonic work, interpretation is largely controlled by the conductor. He or she decides, among other things, how fast the music will go, which musical phrases to stretch out and which to play as written, and how loudly or softly to play a particular passage.
Conductors such as Leonard Bernstein tend to favor a lush, Romantic style of performance, stretching the rhythm in key passages of the music and using a lot of dynamic (volume) contrast. Others such as Herbert von Karajan keep to a much stricter realization of the rhythm (pace) of the music.
Bernstein's rendition of Beethoven's 9th ebbs and flows from musical climax to climax, but Karajan's version pushes forward in growing intensity, rhythmically relentless. Both conductors provide excellent renditions of Beethoven's 9th Symphony, but because of their stylistic differences, the two different recordings yield two very different experiences.
