Different ensembles

[dave b]

I know that performers vary in ability and sound etc and I have heard that ensembles do, also. How does one tell if a performance by the London Symphony Orchestra is superior or inferior to one by the Berlin Philharmonic, when they both give their own renditions of a particular work? This is a very tough part of classical music for me to understand, and I guess it just comes with listening experience. Also, which orchestra does the best job with a work by a particular composer? Does the Boston Symphony Orchestra perform Mahler better than the Montreal Orchestra? This whole area is confusing to me.
I understand that performers' abilities vary, e.g. Dennis Brain v Eric Ruske or Barry Tuckwell, but what about the varying performances of the ensembles themselves, especially when playing pieces by this or that major composer.
Maybe I'm just trying to learn too much too soon That is a distinct possibility.

[DavidW]

It's largely subjective.  It's just what you like and not what's right.  Mistakes in recordings are so uncommon that they're all right as far as following the score goes.  It only seems confusing because IT IS CONFUSING.   There are a ton of recordings out there and it's not easy picking one out, but that's also the fun of it.  Most of this forum is about discussing different recordings and making these kind of decisions.  It's pretty crazy.

[Dana]

How does one tell if a performance by the London Symphony Orchestra is superior or inferior to one by the Berlin Philharmonic, when they both give their own renditions of a particular work?

      You listen to them both and decide which one you like better. There is no measuring stick to determine what music is good and what music is bad (although there is certainly bad music out there, as well as bad performances), there is mainly personal preference. A few things to consider when considering what your preferences are...

• Some people find that having an orchestra from the composer's country of origin will give a better performance than a foreign orchestra. This one only has limited application; while I swear by Mravinsky's take of Shostakovich's 8th, I've never heard a better 5th than Leonard Bernstein with the New York Philharmonic.
• Some people say that certain conductors are just better suited to some repertoire than to others. This one is totally valid - it's absurd to expect one person/ensemble to excel in over 300 years worth of music coming from countless ethnic and stylistic backgrounds. Brahms needs a different sound than Vaughan-Williams, and it's tough for a conductor/orchestra to make that stylistic jump sometimes.
• There are different philosophies not only on approaching the repertoire (see, for example, the war going on between the Historically Informed Performance movement and the rest of the free world), but also on the philosophy of conducting itself (for more information, see this book. Again, no one philosophy/idea can be applied to all of music. It's just impossible.

      Music isn't generally inferior. Sometimes it is (which is a long discussion for another day), but oddly enough, whether or not music is "good" is largely irrelevant to the more important question - do you like it?

[dave b]

Thanks very much.....It is largely, or wholly subjective. And unlike the talents of the various performers, the ensembles themselves are perhaps more on an "equal" basis, as a whole....very very interesting.....there really is no end to the exploration of classical music, and therein might lie a lot of its appeal. Thanks for the insights.

[jochanaan]

...And unlike the talents of the various performers, the ensembles themselves are perhaps more on an "equal" basis, as a whole....very very interesting.....

Well, that's only true when you're talking about world-class ensembles.  Among the lesser-known orchestras there is plenty of quantifiable variation; some are as good as the "stars," while others seem no better than some of the community orchestras I've known.

[Superhorn]

   Certain orchestras are famous for the music of certain composers; for example
the Staatskapelle, Dresden for Richard Strauss, the Vienna Philharmonic for Bruckner, (they also play Strauss magnificently) , the London Philharmonic for Elgar etc.
  The Czech Philharmonic of Prague is of course absolutely authentic when it comes to playing the music of Smetana, Dvorak, Janacek and Martinu etc; its woodwind and brass sections have a distinctive timbre which sounds unmistakably Czech.
  While some Non-Czech orchestras can play Czech music beautifully, they just don't have that distinctive sound .