As a dedicated concert goer I can tell you that the difference between a recording and a live performance is enormous.  There is a sense of excitement and danger about a liver performance, a rough edge that never appears in a recording.<p>It's the difference between television and the cinema, or a driving game and driving for real.<p>Perhaps it's less true for orchestras, but I have exquisite recordings of chamber music, and I will <i>still</i> pay to go to live performances.<p>It's different.