Posted by Rick Denney on May 04, 2001 at 17:08:13:
In Reply to: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Contra-Octave in band playing posted by Chuck on May 04, 2001 at 16:18:58:
Many conductors have a finely tuned sense of what impresses their audience. They don't work for the purists. They know they are competing with 15 recordings of the same work that their audience members listen to over and over again at high volume with the bass turned up too much.
Musicians must do what the conductor wants--that's part of the job (up to a point, of course). Solti wanted a strong tuba sound, and he asked for it. The more controlled sound that Jacobs and Rocco were producing was probably more like what Berlioz intended. But only amateurs can really be purists.
But there is a difference between deciding to work around a composer's instructions for the good of the music in the modern setting, and just doing it because everyone else does. The latter is what makes music degrade over time as the "traditional" approach devolves from incremental "improvements." The former is living life on purpose (see thread on quotations).
Rick "my day for meta-threads" Denney