We attended a concert by Hélène Grimaud and the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra at Davies Hall this afternoon, Kirill Karabits conducting.
About the sound: 100dB peaks in the nose-bleed section on Rachmaninoff’s Symphonic Dances. The Schumann piano concerto barely hit 85db. The image and the timbre in the hall sounded like the Orions do on many recordings. Only the immersive quality of the reverberant sound is missing at home. Nothing else is. The Orions are simply it. QED. Once again.
About the performance: The Schumann piano concerto lacked fire, maybe because the orchestra was pared down to about 30 players. The Symphonic Dances, with full orchestra and six percussionists, was only a bit less cool. I think the guest conductor held the orchestra back. The short piece by Silvestrov that opened the concert was cool too. But that was as it should have been.
Orion Gateway 
Bravo on the musical critique! I’ve never heard of Kirill Karabits. Then again, I’m not familiar with many of todays conductors. I actually have a disc or two featuring Hélène Grimaud……excellent pianist. I would have enjoyed the Schumann even if it lacked the fire, simply because it’s my favorite piano concerto.
Excellent Web Page Sir Eric!
We hadn’t heard of the conductor either. Grimaud was the draw, of course.