. . but most current performance tends quite a bit towards original practice. It is not too useful to compare most older performances with recent ones because the musicianship standards of today are spectacularly higher for this type of music.

The main differences are lighter orchestration, faster tempos, and more freedom of expression for the musicians so they can make it actually sound like music. Earlier performances were often very metronome-like, even though the metronome had yet to be invented.

A number of groups now play early music with instruments constructed the way they were during the period. These generally have a lighter, crisper sound than those of the Romantic era, but some accuse them of being "wheezy". Very few, however, play natural horns or trumpets because it's just too hard.

Of course, we've had to suffer a few cranks like Nikolas Harnoncourt and his Vienna Concentus Musicus. He wrote voluminous notes on why his performances were "authentic", but apparently to him it couldn't be authentic unless it sounded bad. 20 years ago I had some of his recordings - but I gave them all away to someone with a tin ear.