| A couple of nights ago WFMT re-broadcast a concert I had attended some weeks earlier. It was the Emerson SQ performing in the lovely Martin Theater at Ravinia. On the program were the last quartets by Haydn, Bartok and Schubert. I sat about 20 rows back, and a little off to the side. The performance was good, but ultimately only moderately satisfying. Maybe I was too far back, or the dinner too heavy, or the folks around me a bit dull, but I could not get very excited.
Then came the WFMT broadcast, produced by Kerry Frumkin and recorded by Hudson Fair. What a difference! Two microphones, in what must have been the absolute sweet spot of the hall, captured the large, detailed and very exciting sound of the Emerson. It was a great blend of bold scale, integration, dynamics and tone, much different from my live experience. So often we hear about the disapointment of coming home from a concert to our stereos, but here was an example of how the, surely different, sound of a recording could lead to something very good. I think Romy has written about the goal in audio not being to recreate the sound of the performance, but to generate a meaningful event. Well, this evening with WFMT validated the efforts by musicians, recordist, producer, radio station, equipment makers, and system integration. Most satisfying art! |