Recording "flaws" you love

[Brian]

For example:
I always enjoy on recital albums recorded in churches or other rural buildings, if you can hear birds chirping outside during pauses. There are some vintage guitar albums with lots of ambient, accidental bird sounds and they add such a lovely touch.

[DavidW]

The occasional groaning of the conductor.

The sound of the sheets being turned.

The creak of the chairs.

The occasional coughs of the audience.

[Todd]

Birds can add a nice touch, and can add levity.  They can also add a sense of space.  In a few recordings I own, one can tell whether the birds are above or below the recording venue.  A little less nice are car horns, which can ruin the mood, as in Perahia's Schubert Impromptus, but in most cases can add a reminder that the music was made at a specific time and place.  Subway rumble, too, provided it is not too extensive.  (This is more an issue if I listen in my home theater that has a sub, which I rarely do.) 

There is one recording, though I cannot recall OTTOMH which one, where one can clearly hear a truck driver close the truck door, start the truck, start driving, then take a left turn and drive away.  It is so pronounced that on more than one occasion while listening, I have paused to make sure it's only on the recording and not a delivery driver.

While I do not necessarily love them, extraneous piano noises - dampers, or even fingernails on the keys - can allow for an appreciation of how closely and cleanly recorded some piano recordings are now.  Some of Steven Osborne's recordings have pronounced damper noise, as do a couple of Volodos'.  Vocalizing can be nice here and there.  Oddly, the loudness and extent of the vocalization can hamper a recording in some cases (eg, Gould) or be neutral or positive in others (eg, Say). 

[Sergeant Rock]

I love the way Celi shouts at the orchestra at climactic moments.

Sarge

[Spotted Horses]

I love the way Celi shouts at the orchestra at climactic moments.

Sarge

I wonder how the orchestra felt about it.

[TheGSMoeller]

The occasional groaning of the conductor.

There's a moment during the climax from the third mvt Largo of the live recorded 1979 performance of DSCH 5th with Bernstein/NYP where you can audibly here Lenny grunting right before a massive chord from the strings, it's been cemented in my mind that every time I listen to another recording of the 5th I anticipate that groan, and I become disappointed when it's not there.

I also love hearing the "clicks" coming from the keys of the woodwinds.

[Brian]

While I do not necessarily love them, extraneous piano noises - dampers, or even fingernails on the keys -

Believe it or not, there's a whole zydeco song about this, "I Keep My Fingernails Long (So They Click When I Play the Piano)" by Marcia Ball.

[Pohjolas Daughter]

Believe it or not, there's a whole zydeco song about this, "I Keep My Fingernails Long (So They Click When I Play the Piano)" by Marcia Ball.

I love Marcia Ball.  Haven't heard this song though.

PD

[vandermolen]

Botstein shouting angrily at someone who sneezed loudly during a performance of Ben-Haim's Second Symphony.

[Irons]

For example:
I always enjoy on recital albums recorded in churches or other rural buildings, if you can hear birds chirping outside during pauses. There are some vintage guitar albums with lots of ambient, accidental bird sounds and they add such a lovely touch.

Agreed, adds authenticity. A perfect example here, a bird singing away through the whole performance and puts a marker down after only 38 seconds.

https://youtu.be/1_ERbM27q8Q

[DavidW]

There's a moment during the climax from the third mvt Largo of the live recorded 1979 performance of DSCH 5th with Bernstein/NYP where you can audibly here Lenny grunting right before a massive chord from the strings, it's been cemented in my mind that every time I listen to another recording of the 5th I anticipate that groan, and I become disappointed when it's not there.

I also love hearing the "clicks" coming from the keys of the woodwinds.

Oh yeah!  Another notable groaner was Barbirolli in the Mahler 6. 

I also once had a Mozart piano concerto recording where you could clearly hear the train in the background.

[(poco) Sforzando]

Botstein shouting angrily at someone who sneezed loudly during a performance of Ben-Haim's Second Symphony.

That was me.

[(poco) Sforzando]

Toscanini singing along with Albanese and Peerce in the love duet from Bohème.

Many things these days however are fixed. Back in the day, Georges Thill famously cracked on a recording of an aria from Werther, and he refused to remake it, saying that these things happen. Some years ago, I heard Ben Heppner in the house crack on every high note in the Meistersinger Prize Song, but you wouldn't know it from the DVD.

[Spotted Horses]

The only "flaws" that I am aware of in recordings are noticeable edits which snap me out of the flow of the music. These mostly occur in old recordings. Edits that were not noticeable listening to an LP can jump out at you when the recording is digitally remastered, particularly listening on headphones. I'd rather hear a wrong note than an edit, where they've tacked on another take to cover avoid an imperfect performance. Nowadays when digital editing software has replaced razor blades and tape, edits are usually undetectable.

[Iota]

I love the way Celi shouts at the orchestra at climactic moments.

Sarge

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_qTxgBd1BkE

[vandermolen]

That was me.

Haha 

[Olias]

The ultimate creaking chair recording is Suitner's Dvorak 4th symphony, 3rd movement.

[steve ridgway]

The ultimate creaking chair recording is Suitner's Dvorak 4th symphony, 3rd movement.

No doubt inspired by Pierre Henry ‎– Variations Pour Une Porte Et Un Soupir.

[The new erato]

 

I know it. Great reply!

[Roasted Swan]

there's a sound like a stand falling over in the Sargent/Walton 1 1st movement that is so in my audio DNA that whenever I hear another performance I half expect to hear it!!