Should classical music be played only with authentic instruments and at the original speeds?”
Yes, I have enjoyed listening to several pieces of music played on original instruments, and at what was stated to be authentic tiempos. Such performances are very important to both understanding and appriciating the quality of the music. It is also helpful to understand the limitations the period instruments placed on the composer. Both serious students of music and aficianados will be benefited to study, perform and listen to music played at original tiempos and with original instruments. No, it does not HAVE to be played with original instrument or at original speeds to be preformed well or enjoyed throughly by an audiance. It is also not always practical to precisely replicate all musical instruments. Despite our best efforts their exact sound is at best going to be an approximation. There are many variables in craftsmanship, materials and handling that affect an instrument sound, so we may be fooling ourselves a little to say that we can replicate the exact sound of period instrum
