Classical Music Forum banner
Cancel
Create thread New Forums

Recommend me a version of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony

Jump to Latest
37K views 100 replies 46 participants last post by  AndorFoldes  
#1 · (Edited)
Forgive the cliché of talking about one of the best known symphonies.

I was listening to the Berliner Philharmoniker & Karajan's version, from the Symphonies boxset, and was wondering if there was an apocalyptic version of that symphony. A bringer of aural destruction - in a positive meaning, of course.

Thanks
 
#2 · (Edited)
There is an absolute wealth of great Beethoven 5th recording. There is no definitive recording, but a very highly regarded (and rightly so!) recording is Carlos Kleiber's. It's a great place to start! Good luck.

For "apocalyptic aural destruction", Furtwangler might be your best bet. :)
 
#16 ·
One of the great joys is to hear/experience this work (and other musical works) interpreted by different performers.

I, too, cherish the Kleiber recording, but that doesn't stop me from possessing some 100 or so other recordings of Beethoven's Fifth (so I certainly don't listen to the Kleiber recording exclusively!), or from attending concerts (at which Kleiber, unfortunately, will not be conducting) to hear the Fifth once more. (In fact, I already have my tickets for the Pittsburgh Symphony's BeethovenFest concert -- a performance of both the Fifth and the Seventh Symphonies -- in early December. I look forward to hearing/experiencing that Fifth under the baton of Maestro Manfred Honeck.)
 
#18 ·
You can do no better than getting onto YouTube and listen to the variety offered there.
You will surely find an interpretation that you like, whether traditional or modern, it makes no difference.
You are the one who wants to have a recommended version - then recommend yourself.
What we all like is neither here nor there.
In the old days we would take ourselves off to a Record shop and sample the one or two on offer!!
Now you can sample hundreds.
Take the names of all the proposed versions and try yourself.
 
G
#19 ·
Here are ones I really like, to give you a variety - although my original statement still stands. I would make the Kleiber recording your first, then branch out from there.

Szell/Cleveland Orchestra - Sony - these albums are actually dirt cheap - you can pick each one up for ~$5 at Barnes & Noble in the discount CD section. Szell's Beethoven symphony cycle is top notch.
Vanska/Minnesota Orchestra - BIS - Great sound, excellent performance. My favorite modern recording.
Gardiner/ORR - Archiv - IMHO, the best HIP Beethoven symphony cycle.
van Immerseel/Anima Eterna - Zig Zag - high speed adrenaline Beethoven, HIP style. I like it, but it is a real outlier, some of the fastest tempos and leanest orchestration you will find for the symphonies.
Jarvi/Deutsche Karmmerphilharmonie Bremen - RCA - another great recent cycle, up there with Vanska, but I prefer Vanska
Klemperer/Philharmonia Orchestra - Angel/EMI - this is Klemperer! Slower, maybe, than some, but not terribly so. The recording is mono, so not as great of sound quality as the others, but with remastering, there isn't a lot to complain about. It was recorded, I believe, in '54, so it was great quality mono.

Those are all the ones I have and would recommend. Each has something different to offer.
 
T
#29 ·
There have been lots of great recordings, obviously, through the years.
Kleiber is very good. It has been so frequently praised that there is an inevitable backlash if when I hear it on the radio without knowing the recording until announced at the end I always respond well to it. In no particular order, other 5ths that I have owned and loved are Szell/Cleveland, Toscanini/NBC, Weingartner, Hogwood/AAM, Reiner/CSO, and the aforementioned Vanska.
Dissapointments--Solti, Barenboim, Bernstein, Herreweghe, Blomstedt.
 
#35 ·
Another vote for Carlos Kleiber .... we can't all be mistaken :cool:

As an alternative, then I would second the recommendations for Hogwood and the Academy of Ancient Music - a completely different interpretation that is well-worth having so that you can see just how different the music sounds with HIP
 
#43 ·
The only three Beethoven symphony recordings I swear by are...

5 - Kleiber
6 - Bohm
9 - Fricsay

The rest are too jumbled at the top, for me.
 
Save
Reply Quote Like Like
Classical Music Forum
posts
2.8M
members
47K
Since
2004
A forum community dedicated to classical music for musicians and other enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about composers, compositions, arrangements, collections, recordings, techniques, instruments, styles, reviews, classifieds, and more!
Full Forum Listing
Explore Our Forums
Classical Music Discussion Classical Music Games and Polls Off Topic Pub Opera Non-Classical Music