Your favorite recordings of Beethoven's 9th symphony

[Coopmv]

BTW the original youtube clip I referenced was not 1977 New Years version......
I thought HVK looked too old and tame there in those clips, correction made

Here is correct clip with slightly younger more energetic HVK and the explosive conclusion
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SuZryzpIhiw

Your previous video clip came from the 1983 Sony DVD, a mere 6 years before his death.

[DarkAngel]

Your previous video clip came from the 1983 Sony DVD, a mere 6 years before his death.

I also notice that in the 1983 video Karajan had a rail behind him to lean against for support, the 1977 is a more dramatic reading one of the top three on record for me

[Coopmv]

I also notice that in the 1983 video Karajan had a rail behind him to lean against for support, the 1977 is a more dramatic reading one of the top three on record for me

The performances on this DVD were essentially from the late 60's to the early 70's and I have this DVD ...

[DarkAngel]

Great idea Bill - our Gurn will love this!

My favourite 9ths!

NUMERO UNO is IMO the 9th to end all 9th's:



Wilhelm Furtwängler conducts in the twilight of his life the end-and-the-beginning, a farewell and the expression of personal resignation and hope for mankind: Beethoven's 9th symphony. FW starts with a "chaotic" and mysterious musical "fog" by the strings, out of which a touching and spiritual traversal emerges. Great singing by Schwarzkopf, Cavelti, Häfliger and Edelmann. FW says goodbye - I was mesmerised from the first second I heard it. But a performance with a very personal approach like this works different for different people, at different times and even moods. General opinion om postwar FW LvB's is divided between this and and the '51 Bayreuth (EMI), which has more drive but IMO is less consistent in approach and lacks character. Walter Legge wanted to buy for EMI the rights of the Lucerne '54 recording instead - and he was right.

Don't have the Tahra label shown above (obscence used prices), but did just get the latest Music & Arts remaster (Aaron Snyder 2007) of 1954 Lucerne 9th......sounds absolutely great you will not think this is 1954 sound, tympani player on steroids, can hear deep into string tones, brass has major bite, I can even now hear details of the triangle in the Turkish march. Of course no Furtwangler 9th is complete without the furious final dash to close out, wow

UK dealers like Presto & MDT have this for very reasonable price, I suggest you buy

[Bogey]

Did Furt also have an 8/8/'54 recording of the 9th?

[Coopmv]

Did Furt also have an 8/8/'54 recording of the 9th?

Furt died on 11/30/54.  If he did make that recording, it had to be his last ...

[Que]

Did Furt also have an 8/8/'54 recording of the 9th?

Furt died on 11/30/54.  If he did make that recording, it had to be his last ...

No his last was the one on the 22th of August '54 in Lucerne.

Bill, my copy of John Ardoin's "Furtwängler Record" lists recordings in Bayreuth with Brouwenstein, Malaniuk, Weber and Windgassen on the 8th (rehearsal of the 3rd & 4th mvts) and on the 9th of August '54. The recording on the 9th seems to be issued on M&A.

Q

[Que]

Don't have the Tahra label shown above (obscence used prices)

You overlooked this reissue, and M&A doesn't cut it IMO.



Q

[DarkAngel]

You overlooked this reissue, and M&A doesn't cut it IMO.



Q

OK........yes great to know, that Tahra version is also available at Amazon USA
There are so many different Furtwangler 9ths new and used hard to keep track of them all

[Leo K.]

You overlooked this reissue, and M&A doesn't cut it IMO.



Q

Had no idea this was out there...thanks so much for the heads up...just ordered it.

[Bogey]

OK........yes great to know, that Tahra version is also available at Amazon USA
There are so many different Furtwangler 9ths new and used hard to keep track of them all

[DavidRoss]

Unlike Gurn, I seldom listen to the 9th, having worn it out as an adolescent.  Last night, however, I awoke ridiculously early and for some peculiar reason felt an urge to hear it.  After a couple of false starts, trying to give the benefit of the doubt to other recordings (specifically Gardiner, Immerseel, and Hogwood), I finally turned to trusty old Brüggen and was once again delighted.  Love the sonorities that this set alone seems to possess, the brisk but flexible and hardly "driven" tempos, the clarity of textures, and the joyful enthusiasm and vigor and drama of this reading.

I haven't gotten around to hearing Vänskä's 9th yet.  Perhaps I'll give it a go later this weekend...maybe Sunday morning, in honor of Gurn!  (BTW, Gurn, Brüggen does not duplicate the dreadfully misguided "Turkish march" tempos adopted by Snorrington and Hogwood in their contemporaneous recordings.  )

[Gurn Blanston]

Unlike Gurn, I seldom listen to the 9th, having worn it out as an adolescent.  Last night, however, I awoke ridiculously early and for some peculiar reason felt an urge to hear it.  After a couple of false starts, trying to give the benefit of the doubt to other recordings (specifically Gardiner, Immerseel, and Hogwood), I finally turned to trusty old Brüggen and was once again delighted.  Love the sonorities that this set alone seems to possess, the brisk but flexible and hardly "driven" tempos, the clarity of textures, and the joyful enthusiasm and vigor and drama of this reading.

I haven't gotten around to hearing Vänskä's 9th yet.  Perhaps I'll give it a go later this weekend...maybe Sunday morning, in honor of Gurn!  (BTW, Gurn, Brüggen does not duplicate the dreadfully misguided "Turkish march" tempos adopted by Snorrington and Hogwood in their contemporaneous recordings.  )

Ah, thanks for that tidbit, David. I think I wrote somewhere in here that this was the only PI 9th that I don't have. That info makes me even more interested to acquire it. I'm not entirely sure how Brüggen has managed to escape me on most levels. It seems that no matter the composer (well, Haydn/Mozart/Beethoven) when I assess my collection, he is the only notable absentee. Except for the best Beethoven violin concerto ever recorded, of course.

Last Sunday it was Czech PO / Kletzki, this week it's looking like Wiener Philharmoniker / Böhm (1970). Gosh, I hate getting in a rut like that...



----------------
Listening to:
The Hanover Band / Goodman - Hob 01 008 Symphony in G 1st mvmt - Allegro molto

[DavidRoss]

...this week it's looking like Wiener Philharmoniker / Böhm (1970).

Ah...one of my faves among the old time big band Beethoven 9ths I grew up with, and I think the only one that I have both on vinyl and CD.    Hmmm, come to think of it, it's been ages since I last played my LP of Karajan's 1977 recording.  Maybe that's overdue, too!

[Bogey]

Ah...one of my faves among the old time big band Beethoven 9ths I grew up with, and I think the only one that I have both on vinyl and CD.    Hmmm, come to think of it, it's been ages since I last played my LP of Karajan's 1977 recording.  Maybe that's overdue, too!

Vinyl sighting!

[Gurn Blanston]

Ah...one of my faves among the old time big band Beethoven 9ths I grew up with, and I think the only one that I have both on vinyl and CD.    Hmmm, come to think of it, it's been ages since I last played my LP of Karajan's 1977 recording.  Maybe that's overdue, too!

Yeah, it's a good one. As far as Big Band 9th's go, I do OK with everything in the post-Fricsay (stereo) era. I don't like them as much as the PI era, but I respect and admire them, like you do with people who successfully survive piloting an overpowered "car" at Bonneville, for example... amazing that they kept it under control all the way to the end and walked away from it!    


----------------
Listening to:
The Hanover Band / Goodman - Hob 01 003 Symphony in G 3rd mvmt - Menuet

[DavidRoss]

Today I've gotten charged up about the 9th in a way I haven't been for years.  I've just enjoyed Abbado & the BP's smashing 2000 live recording with outstanding soloists Karita Mattila, Violeta Urmana, Thomas Moser and Thomas Quasthoff.  Gorgeous, inspired music making of the highest order.  Every time I listen to a recording from this cycle (the "Rome" cycle, though the 9th was actually recorded in Berlin) my admiration for it grows. 

[Opus106]

Today I've gotten charged up about the 9th in a way I haven't been for years.  I've just enjoyed Abbado & the BP's smashing 2000 live recording with outstanding soloists Karita Mattila, Violeta Urmana, Thomas Moser and Thomas Quasthoff.  Gorgeous, inspired music making of the highest order.  Every time I listen to a recording from this cycle (the "Rome" cycle, though the 9th was actually recorded in Berlin) my admiration for it grows. 

Read your post, switched tabs and saw a recording of the same work, Abbado and the Berliners -- different soloists, though -- performing in Rome in early 2001, up for download.

[Gurn Blanston]

Today I've gotten charged up about the 9th in a way I haven't been for years.  I've just enjoyed Abbado & the BP's smashing 2000 live recording with outstanding soloists Karita Mattila, Violeta Urmana, Thomas Moser and Thomas Quasthoff.  Gorgeous, inspired music making of the highest order.  Every time I listen to a recording from this cycle (the "Rome" cycle, though the 9th was actually recorded in Berlin) my admiration for it grows.

David,
Yes, I have, on DVD, the same folks (except Schulte instead of Quasthof) and I think it's an exceptional performance. The whole cycle is first-rate, but the 9th is really worth waiting for! 



----------------
Listening to:
The Hanover Band / Goodman - Hob 01 004 Symphony in D 3rd mvmt - Finale: Tempo di Menuetto

[DavidRoss]

Read your post, switched tabs and saw a recording of the same work, Abbado and the Berliners -- different soloists, though -- performing in Rome in early 2001, up for download.

For some reason when Abbado & DGG decided to replace their earlier release with the Rome recordings, the only symphony they chose to retain from the previous one was this 9th.  Whether better or not I can't say, only that it sounds pretty darned good to me!