Karajan's style is certainly not my preferred in Beethoven.
But his 5th, in the version of 1977/78, with the BPO ... [is] in my opinion, among the best interpretations of this works.
Agreed 1000%! When I was a classical newbie I listened to a lot of Karajan; although in years since I've gotten a much better idea of what styles work for me, and I now seldom listen to him. But even today, his 70's Beethoven 5th is flat out awesome -- easily my favorite version, and for my money much better than Carlos Kleiber's (ducks for cover
). Certainly one of Karajan's very best recordings...
I still have yet to hear the Menuhin set -- come to think of it, I don't think I've ever seen it in a store...
