At 01:36 PM 8/24/2006, Lou Judson wrote:Ron, this is a gem. May I take the quote below ....snip
Quote me if you want. I did not directly hear Kostelanetz say this. Our choir director Dr. Norman Rian, told me Kostelanetz said this. Dr. Rian was head of the music department at the University of Hawaii. This was at a concert in the Waikiki Shell, Honolulu, Hawaii, of Gershwin music, with the Honolulu Symphony Orchestra and the Univeristy of Hawaii Choir, about 1963 or so...I'm not sure about the year.
From the other posts, it seems that Kostelanetz did not hesitate to have recording engineers splice and 'fix' the recordings so they were how he wanted to hear them. I wonder if the conductor is the best person to do that, since he usually listens so close by the orchestra. His perception of the sound is so different that the perception far away in the audience, where the sound is more leveled across instrument sections and the reverb is more pronounced relative to the direct sound.
In practice for choir concerts, I have seen directors start the music, then walk off stage into the audience and sit in various positions to hear the balance the way the audience does. I don't know if this is common for orchestras.
Somewhat related: In a La Boheme rehearsal ( my wife and I were in the chorus, early 1960s) Dorothy Kirsten would often listen in the audience, then make suggestions to symphony/opera conductor George Barati, who did not take kindly to this 'artistic interference'. After a couple days of this, he threatened to walk out if she did not stop. It caused quite a buzz in local music circles because Barati was well known (http://library.ucsc.edu/reg-hist/barati.html).
Regards,
Ron Fial
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At 01:36 PM 8/24/2006, you wrote:Ron, this is a gem. May I take the quote below and use it for a signature line fo rmy emails? It is wonderful! It will set me in good stead with old timers, and puzzle the youngsters who will wonder what an "Lp recording" is...
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Lou Judson • Intuitive Audio 415-883-2689
On Aug 24, 2006, at 12:41 PM, Ron Fial wrote:
Andre Kostelanetz said he had a problem listening to LP recordings, because after the engineers spliced all the takes together, the work was 'too perfect'. No real orchestra could play that well.