Symphony Recommendation

As far as the Beethoven symphonies go... I'd say the milestone recordings are Herbert von Karajan with the Berlin Philharmonic, and Carlos Kleiber with the Vienna Philharmonic. You can't go wrong with either performance, and the Vienna and Berlin Phil players have this music in their blood. If you ever want to delve into the Brahms symphonies, I think von Karajan and the Berlin Phil are again the benchmark.

The only catch is that all of these recordings are fairly old. I know Deutsche Grammaphone has a remastered version of the Kleiber recordings, and I'm sure they should have remastered versions of the von Karajan recordings too. I, for one, am waiting for SACD's remasters... wishful thinking I suppose.

Anyway, best of luck, and happy listening. Beethoven's music is near and dear to me, and I hope these recordings bring you as much pleasure as they have for me. Happy listening!

EWHA has hit the button on the nose with the best recordings. There are a few esoterics out there, mainly on old RCA LP's but I think that would not be worth your time.
Keith

Please, please listen to the RCA re-issue of Reiner and the Chicago Symphony playing Beethoven #5 and Schubert Unfinished

The Kleiber 5th is one of the best. I like the Dvorak 9th by Solti/Chicago. Probably the Karajan Beethoven 9th or maybe Bernstein.

Aliu,

After you enjoy the performances mentioned above, here is my suggestion -

Beethoven Symphony No. 5 (op. 67):
1. Walter with Columbia Symphony Orchestra on Sony.
2. Furtwangler with Berlin Philharmonic (mono recording in
1947) on Music & Arts.

Beethoven Symphony No. 9 (op.125):
1. Bohm with Berlin Philharmonic (digital recording in
1983) on Deutsche Grammaphone.
2. Celibidache with Munich Philharmonic on EMI.
3. Furtwangler with Berlin Philharmonic (mono recording in
1942) on Music & Arts.

Dvorak Symphony No. 9 (op.95):
1. Kubelic with Berlin Philharmonic on Deutsche Grammaphone.
2. Neumann with Czech Philharmonic on Supraphon.

In my opinion, these suggested recordings provided me different perspectives of these masterpieces. In short, SUBTLE.

Happy Listening.

Otto

I have a remastered version of Von Karajan's recordings of Beethoven symphonies and it sounds great. The only thing, it's a bit pricey ($60 or $70 for a set of 5 cds).
Dvorak's 9th is best performed by Nikolaus Harnoncourt And Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra on Teldec.

kleiber on dg for the 5th - this is easily the most exciting beethoven 5th recorded. don't let its age bother you, the performance will make up for any sonic deficiencies due to age.re dvorak's 9th, for sonics and performance, harnoncourt on teldec and fischer on phillips (on the latter you get an excellent 8th).

I wonder if the Harnoncourt/Teldec that is being recommended is the Teldec the poster sais he does not like?

excellent recommendations Otto...Celi and Furtie are my favs as well...I'll add Dvorak 9th with Newark Sym. Orch. with Macal conducting...excelletn performance!

that is New Jersey Sym. with Macaal conducting...not Newark...i was thinking about the city they play in...

sugarbrie, could be the masur w/nyp. wasn't my favorite. i guess if he has harnoncourt he can just ignor the recommendation. there are a lot of excellent dvorak 9ths out there but he was looking for sota sonic's...........

Bruno Walter is a must to own

I accidentally posted this topic twice, both got very good feedback. I would like to thank everybody who responded. I’ve learned a lot from you guys. By the way, I don't have any of the recommended CD in my collection. I'm ready to look into the recommendation list. Thanks again.