I’m afraid this is yet one more thread on this terribly over-done subject. But I couldn’t resist it …

I have just finished listening to a 60 minute assessment of all/most versions of this famous Beethoven symphony which are currently available, as reviewed by Stephen Johnson for the BBC Radio 3’s Building a Library on their weekly CD Review. (see the link).

Stephen Johnson is seriously good value (obviously he would need to be to get this kind of job for the BBC). It’s people like him, with known credentials, who I tend to take note of, although the BBC has several other presenters who give high quality advice on classical music/recordings.

It was a very interesting assessment, with lots of examples from different parts of the symphony. The versions most highly recommended by Stephen Johnson are:

1. Otto Klemperer 1957 live version 11 Nov 1957, Royal Festival Hall, Stereo Recording, Testament Label (NB there are several recordings by Klemperer, so don’t get it confused with others)

2. Claudio Abbado/BPO live version 1996, 1996 Sony Label

As per Radio 3’s usual policy, the Building a Library programme should be available to listen to again for one week after transmission. The recommended version of the symphony by Klemperer will be played on Monday, 28th December around 10.40 am (GMT). I must say I have always admired Klemperer. As I see it, this is "one in the eye" for the (amateurish) HIP crowd commentators, who tend to dominate discussion boards.

I'm grateful you responded to temptation in the Oscar Wilde fashion...But not this one!

I carry no professional credentials on this issue, but I do join you in admiration
for the Furtwängler/Bayreuth EMI-GRC disc, so that counts for something, right?

Is it too much of a digression to speak of the 'journey of discovery' for Beethoven 9 recordings? I hope not-

My first hearing of the 9th, entire, was a library-loan LP by Ormandy-Philadelphia. Probably not the soundest limb to use as a 'jumping-off' point, but it was an eye-opener for a teenaged would-be dilettante. I think the next one I heard was by Steinberg & Pittsburgh- that one was a loan, too. The word 'underrated' gets thrown around a lot in reference to Ormandy- and although I like E.O. in Program Romanticism, Steinberg is REALLY underrated. The 'deletion-cleaver' hasn't been kind to him, either. I have some vague memory of hearing the breakneck Toscanini recording sometime in college. My first purchase of the 9th was the even-more-breakneck Szell-Cleveland rendition (still in the 'age-of-vinyl').

Along the way, I heard the Solti-Chicago analog recording, much-praised in the area I come from, and also the digital disc, somewhat less-praised. Nowadays, it's mostly Furtwängler and Karajan for me- although if I had to choose to try one that I haven't auditioned yet, I'd have to flip between Fricsay and Klemperer.

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The hardest knife ill us'd doth lose his edge. Shakespeare- Sonnet 95

I have a Szell-Cleveland version recorded in 1965. I don't notice it being breakneck, but it doesn't quite do it for me. It seems to lack passion - if that is even possible with this piece. I once had what was to me a definitive version on tape ( yeah, I know) that I have since lost, and I don't remember the orchestra or conductor at all. I have been looking for another version that has the same pacing and power as whoever was on that tape.

I shy away form pre-1960's recordings. I need the fuller frequency range of more modern recordings. Maybe I should check out the Abbado.

[ETA: Actually I do have a DVD of Abbado and the Berliner Philharmoniker featuring the 9th and 3rd recorded in 2000. I wonder if I can somehow get at just the audio? I wouldn't necessarily want to play the video when I'm just listening.]

For all my not understanding Beethoven's 9th, I must have about 5 or 6 recordings of it. Karajan (from the first cycle on DG), Zinman, Toscanini, Solti, and Kurt Sanderling. As for which ones I outright prefer, I think I prefer Karajan's. I just need to listen to what I have a bit more, really.

I mostly just want to get Paavo Jarvi's recording.

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"Aufersteh'n, ja aufersteh'n
wirst du, mein Herz, in einem Nu!
Was du geschlagen
zu Gott wird es dich tragen!"
-Gustav Mahler

Two words: Hermann Scherchen.

As I said previously, the BBC's "Building a Library" programme can be listened to again for a week from 26 December.

I'm not sure if it's available to people outside the UK, as I recall having trouble earlier this year when I was in the States, but it may be worth a try, nevertheless.

Anyone interested, click this link Building a Library, then click on "Listen now"; once it starts, scroll forward to 09.30 and it follows for 60 minutes.

It's not a deeply intensive analysis of the score or anything like that, but simply discusses in lay terms some of the main features of the work and how various "classic" versions have tackled it, including Toscanini, Furtwangler, Klemperer, Hvk, Abbado, Zinman, Mackerras, etc.

http://www.amazon.com/Beethoven-Symp...1978950&sr=8-5

This is the recording in CD form, and one of the best Beethoven Symphony Cycles you can get (so if you only have the 9th and 3rd it's worth getting this box set). Alternatively you can try one of those DVD ripping programs (I can't mention which ones since their legality is questionable).

I have two recordings of B's 9th. One by Karajan and the other the Liszt Transcrition. Almighty piece of music. Infact, I would rank it right up there in human achievments; along with landing on the moon, building the pyramids, CERN, and the Cistine chapel!

Since I own the DVD, I don't how questionable ripping the audio would be if I don't share it. All my CD's are ripped to mp3 audio and then stored away for safe keeping.

However, the price is reasonable in the link you provided.

To beetzart:

I agree it ranks up there with landing on the moon. I feel about the same way listening to it as I did when I watched the first moon landing. That's a great analogy.

I have begun exploring this symphony.

I have:
Karajan '62
Gardiner
Norrington

I am awaiting the arrival of Furtwaengler's recording with Bayreuth on EMI - I've heard much good about it. It should reach me any day now.

I would be very interested in hearing Klemperer's version. I am a huge fan of his - I enjoy his recordings of Mozart's Magic Flute, Beethoven's Fidelio, Bruckner's 6th, and Mahler's 2nd.

I don't like Furtwängler's recording(s). The tempo seems off at times, though that might be because I've listened to Karajan too much!

Abbado, I also find very good. I also have an Ashkenazy recording, amazing clarity in the chorus, you can very clearly hear the brass, which isn't always the case with Karajan.

I once watched a Bernstein clip on youtube, waaaaay too slow, wouldn't recommend it to anyone.

I have only one recording of Beethoven's 9th; by The Academy of Ancient Music/Hogwood, though I would like to acquire others including Gardiner's and Norrington's.

One of my favorite symphonies. Current fav recording is Karajan's digital one on DG. Another fav is Klaus Tennstedt on BBC Live. Acoustics in the Albert Hall in this live mid-80s recording are strange at times, but the performance has no lack of bravura.

Like 1942 Furtwangler, too.

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"Music is not philosophy." --Akira Ifukube

An heretical proposal:
I wish Beethoven had ended the Ninth with the third movement (like Bruckner's Ninth), and left the Ode as a separate opus (like Bruckner's Te Deum).

Or, I wish Beethoven has gone with his original intention of using the finale of the a-minor String Quartet (Op. 132) as the fourth movement of the Ninth.

Often I audit only the first three movements of the Ninth.

I do that too - mainly because I simply cannot stand that fourth movement.