Classical geeks: Help me pick a version of the 9th!

[FlashHarry]

I've already got the Leinsdorf/Domingo version. I was looking at picking up the Herbert Von Karajan version in the context of the 9 symphonies box set from 1963.

Any suggestion? BTW, I like an over-the-top 'Ode to Joy.'

[Loonman]

1. Modern or period?

Modern symphony and choral or period?

Musical Heritage Society has an awesome version done with the same size orchestra Beethoven would use. That version is very beefy and "in your face". I find some modern classical CDs tend to over-produce and over-compress their sound, but the advantage is they work dynamically with today's Hi-Fi systems.


As for modern, try Telarc CDs.

[wryter2000]

2. If you like full orchestra

If you like full symphony orchestra instead or original instruments, you can't go wrong with Georg Solti. I know his is my absolute favorite 6th Symphony.

While you're at it, check out the Seventh and the Choral Fantasia.

[Davis_X_Machina]

3. A late-60's performance...

...on London by Hans Schmidt-Isserstedt and the Vienna Opera, with Martti Taavela, James King, Joan Sutherland, and Marilyn Horn.

[BurtWorm]

8. Speak of the devil!

I just referred to the same version!

[Az]

4. Techie Tidbit

The length of recording time on a CD is set based on the length of the 9th. When they were attempting to establish standards for the CD they had to determine the recording frequency which would govern quality vs quantity on a CD. They set the 9th as the standard length for a CD.

[Loonman]

5. I did not know that

Cool!

[Davis_X_Machina]

6. Specifically the 9th on the

DGG Beethoven Bicentennial set by Herbert (Don't Worry, We'll Get There Eventually) Von Karajan. If they used Carlos Kleiber instead, we'd have 50-minute CD's :-)!

[BurtWorm]

7. Here's an excellent deal on Beethoven Symphonies--

including one of my very favorite versions of the ninth--plus the violin concerto, the piano concertos, and three overtures:


http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00005ND3N/qid=1058212202/sr=1-19/ref=sr_1_19/002-9301803-5086469?v=glance&s=classical

[Davis_X_Machina]

10. Hot damn...

...I can replace my London vinyl!

Seid umschlungen, Millionen!

[supernova]

9. German Reunification

I believe a rousing rendidtion of the 9th was played in concert at the Reunification ceremony. People talked about how stirring it was for weeks afterward.

I don't know who did it (Berlin Philharmonic?), but it might be worthwhile to get a copy of it. I'm sure it's on record somewhere.

[Davis_X_Machina]

13. Bernstein, Berlin Phil, lots of fun...

...and a historic document, but not on the 'If you only have one 9th' list.

[Divernan]

11. Wow - what a classy thread -never see the likes of this on Free Republic!

nt

[Rabrrrrrr]

12. I love my NY Philharmonic with Zubin Mehta

conducting. Can't remember all the soloists, but the bassist is Matti Salminen, who is truly a powerful and incredible bassist.

had the pleasure of hearing him performing the role of Hagen in Gotterdammerung at the Met in 1997, and holy hell, until you've heard him summoning the tropps with "Hei ho!!" etc., well, you've not heard a bassist.

The NY Phil with Mehta and this guy was recorded, I think, in the early or mid-1980s. I've had it since like 1987, one of the first CDs I bought. One of the most powerful and spot on performances I've ever heard, too.

on edit: found the recording. Has Marilyn Horne as well! http://www.iclassics.com/iclassics/album.jsp?selectionId=8900

More on Matti Salminen:
http://virtual.finland.fi/finfo/english/salminen.html

Also good would be, likely, any recording by Solti and Chicago symphony. Try a Furtzwengler recording - I've never heard any, but his Wagner recordings I have are brilliant. Also Seiji Ozawa, and of course, Stakowski.

In terms of what NOT to go for: Stay away from any Beethoven conducted by Kurt Masur or Bernstein. I've never heard any Beethoven by them I like (and I've enver heard any anything I liked by Masur, the hack). Don't get any with Italian soloists or Italian orchestras or any mediterranean-born romance-nation conductors, really. You definitely need American, English, German, Scandanavian, Israeli, russian, slvaic, etc. people doing this. Or Japanese - the Japanese are so enamored of this symphony, they take scores with them to performances.

Oh, and stay away from the Boston Pops.

Get yourself a variety of recordings!

I heard one on the radio, and alas never found out who it was, that took the section where the music in the fourth movement is all quiet, makes a few false starts, then comes with full choir - in this recording, the conductor took that really slow, very noticably different from normal tempo, and it was rocking cool. Tempos in the rest of the piece were all what they should be, but he (or she) took a defniite liberty withthe tempo in that one section. WOW! Maybe it was von Karajan?

[stopbush]

14. Karajan's 62 version is a safe bet.

You should get it in its DGG "Originals" version (Cat# 447401-2) which features marginally better sound than earlier CD incarnations. You can also get the entire 1962 set in an excellent, up-to-date remastering for about $60 on DGG 463088-2 (these same recordings are also available for around $35 in an earlier CD mastering that isn't quite as good as the $60 version). If you don't yet own a complete set of the Beethoven Symphonies, you would do well to spring for this one.

My all-around fav 9th - and I've lived with it for years - is Karl Bohm's analog version on DGG 437368-2. The 2-CD set also includes the Eroica. The Vienna State Opera Choir is fabulous in the Finale (as are the 4 vocal soloists), and the playing of the Vienna Phil is most impressive. This is a massive, masterful rendition.

I also like Fricsay's - also on DGG - 463626-2. However, it's early stereo.

Rene Leibowitz's early 1960s version on Chesky #66 is also fine.

Once you've gotten past needing state-of-the-art sound, check out one of the many Furtwangler versions, most readily available is his EMI recording (#66953) that was taped at the reopening of the Bayreuth Festival in 1951. Not the greatest sound, but what a performance!

I'm not much a Solti fan, and the "early music versions" all seem mighty underwhelming to me.

If you live in the USA, you may want to check out archivmusic.com. They carry just about every in-print classical CD...and at very reasonable prices.

[FlashHarry]

15. Oops. I just ordered the $35 version.

For $24. I hope it's ok.

[stopbush]

16. At $24

you got a deal. The remastering isn't worth plunking down another $35.

[GalleryGod]

17. MIGUEL RIOS circa. 1970

Excellent!O8) Big BOFFo Full orchestration finish,too. A one hit wonder from I think,Spain.

[regnaD kciN]

18. Stokowski, Gardiner, or Barenboim

For a traditional, rather brisk version, Stokowski's (London Weekend Classics) is incredibly powerful.

In the "original instruments" category, John Eliot Gardiner's (Archiv) rendition is the best.

If you are lucky enough to have a full DVD-based surround-sound system, get Barenboim's DVD-Audio recording on Teldec. As a matter of fact, get his whole cycle. Very good interpretations, plus a feeling of being "in the concert hall" that I just don't get from any stereo recording.

(Back to stereo, Bernstein's late-70s DGG live recording with the Vienna Philharmonic is also first-rate, but I don't think you can get it apart from his complete set.)