[bagpipers]

I couldn't possibly cite a favourite symphony - it might change according to what I am listening to at any given moment - but that is a very fine choice.

Always has been my favorite but many others I do love though!

 

[Oldhoosierdude]

I don't have an absolute favorite symphony but Schubert is one of my most often listened to composers.

There are many recordings of these two symphonies. I have several. Bernstein is almost a can't miss conductor. However I haven't heard his Schubert.

I have heard and been looking to acquire this recording: Wiener Philharmoniker, John Eliot Gardiner.

 

[Steatopygous]

I have quite a few accounts of the Great C major, about 18, plus duplicates. I couldn't put my finger on a favourite.

Klassische Philharmonie Stuttgart	Karl Munchinger
Concertgebouw O	Bernard Haitink
Columbia SO	Bruno Walter
Boston Symphony O	Charles Munch
Chamber Orchestra of Europe	Claudio Abbado
Orchestra of the 18th century	Frans Bruggen
Vienna Philharmonic O	Georg Solti
Cleveland O	Georg Szell
San Francisco SO	Herbert Blomstedt
Vienna Philharmonic	Istvan Kertesz
The Met Orchestra	James Levine
Royal Philharmonic O	Thomas Beecham
Berlin Philharmonic O	Wilhelm Furtwangler
London SO	Josef Krips
Berlin Philharmonic O	Karl Bohm
Staatskapelle Dresden	Karl Bohm
Philharmonia O	Otto Klemperer
Menuhin Festival O	Yehudi Menuhin

 

[jegreenwood]

So far, and I’m a self confessed newbie, my favourite versions of these two wonderful symphonies is by George Szell and Cleveland. I will have to listen to the Bernstein and NY performance now. Thanks for the heads up.

The first versions I heard were Toscanini/Philadelphia for the 9th and Toscanini/NBC Orchestra for the 8th. Despite the old sound they were thrilling, especially the 9th. I gravitate to Szell, Krips, and Munch. But I have a few others. I don't have Bernstein though.

I bought two box sets of the cycle recently, Blomstedt and Bruggen (my first HIP cycle), and I like them both.

 

[Fruity Felix]

For some reason I really only like 5, 8 9 (I'll never get the hang of the new numbering).

Gunter Wand is pretty much my go-to, plus Sinopoli for 8, and Karajan and Asahina for 9.

 

[Yanto]

The first versions I heard were Toscanini/Philadelphia for the 9th and Toscanini/NBC Orchestra for the 8th. Despite the old sound they were thrilling, especially the 9th. I gravitate to Szell, Krips, and Munch. But I have a few others. I don't have Bernstein though.

I bought two box sets of the cycle recently, Blomstedt and Bruggen (my first HIP cycle), and I like them both.

I’ve definitely not heard either of the Toscanini versions that you mentioned. But I will now. Listened to the Bernstein/NY earlier and they are very good. I also like the Munch

 

[Animal the Drummer]

I'm less of a fan of no.9 than some of you but I do enjoy Bruno Walter's muscular version with the Columbia Symphony.

 

[Simplicissimus]

I have the complete set of Schubert's symphonies recorded by Sawallisch and the Dresden Staatskapelle in 1967 and 1971. I like to experience one conductor's and orchestra's performance of the whole cycle, though I have recordings of some of the individual symphonies that I like better than Sawallisch's.

 

[Joek Baron]

Kleiber for 8 is one of the few performances he did that I think can’t be surpassed. I think his more critically acclaimed Beethoven 5th and Brahms 4th can be and arguably already are surpassed. He gets passages just right that no one seems to be able to understand as well as he does. Munch for the 9th for the exact same reason. Abbado/VPO for the 5th and Kleiber again for the 3rd. The rest I’ve yet to hear

 

[mbhaub]

For some reason I really only like 5, 8 9 (I'll never get the hang of the new numbering).

Thankfully, the re-numbering in the case of Schubert hasn't caught on and hardly anyone pays attention to it. 8 and 9 are so entrenched that any attempts at new numbering is futile and I hope it stays that way. There are still people who call Dvorak's New World the 5th, even though he himself labeled it the 8th. Now the 9th.

 

[Animal the Drummer]

Kleiber for 8 is one of the few performances he did that I think can’t be surpassed. I think his more critically acclaimed Beethoven 5th and Brahms 4th can be and arguably already are surpassed. He gets passages just right that no one seems to be able to understand as well as he does. Munch for the 9th for the exact same reason. Abbado/VPO for the 5th and Kleiber again for the 3rd. The rest I’ve yet to hear

With you on the "Unfinished", but the turbo-charged "slow" movt.of no.3 disqualifies Kleiber's version for me.

 

[RobertJTh]

Thankfully, the re-numbering in the case of Schubert hasn't caught on and hardly anyone pays attention to it. 8 and 9 are so entrenched that any attempts at new numbering is futile and I hope it stays that way. There are still people who call Dvorak's New World the 5th, even though he himself labeled it the 8th. Now the 9th.

I wasn't even aware there's a new {official?) numbering? I thought the order after the 6th was more or less definitive:
7 - The E major, but used to be either a placeholder for the non-existing "Gastein" symphony, or one of the two last. I still don't think the E major deserves official status/numbering, even in completed form (Barnett, Weingartner, Newboult) it remains one of Schubert's weakest efforts.
8 - Unfinished, but was used for the Great C Major
9 - Great C Major
I haven't seen any other numbering in modern reviews or recordings, am I missing something?

 

[John O]

So is "Caesar" because every Roman emperor was called Caesar. But everybody knows that unless further context is given C. Julius Caesar is the one meant by Caesar.

I agree that we all know that a reference to The Unfinished Symphony means Symphony no 8 rather than 0, 6a, 6b ,7 or 10.
But I bet a lot of people think because it is called The Unfinished Symphony that it was the only symphony he didn't finish.

The analogy with Julius Caesar is not quite the same: D 579 is actually an Unfinished Symphony by Schubert; Julius Caesar was never Emperor of Rome (Though many people think that he was).

 

[Joek Baron]

With you on the "Unfinished", but the turbo-charged "slow" movt.of no.3 disqualifies Kleiber's version for me.

I haven’t heard any other accounts of the 3rd except Kleiber’s but to me it sounds right. Which recording would you recommend for the 3rd?

 

[Jpdolan_21]

I've long considered Bernstein's Unfinished as my favorite performance of this great Schubert work. It grips you right away, with the opening notes louder, darker, more troubling than in most performances (even those that forgo the "pianissimo" suggestion for those first notes). The first movement moves at a great pace and contrasts darkness and light as well as anyone does, and it includes the repeat. It holds me spellbound every time, and even though there are other great performances that I enjoy listening to, I always come back to the Bernstein. The Great C major is an excellent performance too, one of the best, but not my favorite - which is probably the Charles Munch or the Josef Kripps. There are a number of terrific performances of these two great works recorded in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Bernstein, Munch, Kripps, and also the Szell with Cleveland and Klemperer with the Philharmonia, they all stand out.

It’s hard to not come back to Bernstein. He really does it so well but also makes it the definitive version.

 

[RobertJTh]

It’s hard to not come back to Bernstein. He really does it so well but also makes it the definitive version.

There's no such thing as a definitive version.

I haven’t heard any other accounts of the 3rd except Kleiber’s but to me it sounds right. Which recording would you recommend for the 3rd?

How about Van Beinum?

 

[vgvalkyrie]

There's no such thing as a definitive version.

I agree with you, there is certainly no such thing as a definitive version for anything. Well (tee-hee), except for Klemperer's Bruckner Six of course (as I declared mischievously in another thread). Oh, okay, I'll go stand in a corner…!

 

[Fredrikalansson]

For a complete set, I heartily recommend Bohm with the BPO.

For "The Great", either Boult or Jochum. No fuss, no muss trying to make it "greater" than it is. They know how the symphony should go, they give it it's head, and let the music go on it's merry way.

Bernstein was my first exposure to the Unfinished, and 50+ years later, I think it's still in the back of my head, even though I don't own the recording. I just heard the Krips for the first time last week and was deeply moved. It may now be my favourite.

 

[68261]

Kleiber for 8 is one of the few performances he did that I think can’t be surpassed. I think his more critically acclaimed Beethoven 5th and Brahms 4th can be and arguably already are surpassed. He gets passages just right that no one seems to be able to understand as well as he does. Munch for the 9th for the exact same reason. Abbado/VPO for the 5th and Kleiber again for the 3rd. The rest I’ve yet to hear

What recordings of Beethoven 5th and Brahms 4th surpassed Kleiber's in your opinion?

 

[Forster]

I have Abbado, Chamber Orchestra of Europe, 1-9 (8th Unfinished, 9th Great) - recorded in 1986-7.

I just can't quite get the hang of Schubert. There's nothing wrong with him other than he always strikes me as Beethoven-lite.

See here re numbering issues. Schubert's symphonies - Wikipedia

In conclusion, the resulting and most current order followed by the English-speaking world is:

• No. 7: E major, D 729
• No. 8: B minor, D 759 Unfinished
• No. 9: C major, D 944 Great C major
• No. 10: D major, D 936A