When I want to hear one, I just grab what's most ready to hand, so it's hard to judge. But I'd put in a plug for Bruggen and the 18th-c-Orchestra for the 7th. (Although the recording isn't nearly as thrilling as the live performance I heard them do, which totally blew me away).
Favorite Beethoven Symphony Recordings
OK, it’s one of Ludwigs anniversary years. There must be over 200 complete Symphony Cycles, with seemingly dozens this year alone. While most Classical listeners are bound to have several, we can’t possibly know them all. Make a list of favorites of each work, try not to repeat a Conductor if possible.
1-Hogwood/AAM
2) Krips/LSO
3) Furtwangler/Vienna PO (1944)
4) Szell/Cleveland
5) Kleiber/VPO
6) Walter/Columbia SO
7) Solti/Chicago (1970s cycle)
8) Gardiner-Revolutionary Romantic etc. Orchestra
9) Von Karajan/ Berlin PO (sixties)
1-Hogwood/AAM
2) Krips/LSO
3) Furtwangler/Vienna PO (1944)
4) Szell/Cleveland
5) Kleiber/VPO
6) Walter/Columbia SO
7) Solti/Chicago (1970s cycle)
8) Gardiner-Revolutionary Romantic etc. Orchestra
9) Von Karajan/ Berlin PO (sixties)