Recordings are the 'binary' form of music, sheetmusic is the source code and you are much freer to interpret that sourcecode than the binary form, which can only be listened to, it is as if all the meta information got flattened and there are only two layers of data left. (Assuming stereo...).
Things like pedal markings, subtle timing hints and so on are given to the interpreter as a way to encode the composers expression, a recording can have errors in it and will lose a lot of those markings. Even 'note release' can be very hard to pull out of a recording (heck, even 'note struck' can be hard).
Things like pedal markings, subtle timing hints and so on are given to the interpreter as a way to encode the composers expression, a recording can have errors in it and will lose a lot of those markings. Even 'note release' can be very hard to pull out of a recording (heck, even 'note struck' can be hard).