Your favorite recordings of Beethoven's 9th symphony

[Bogey]

I noticed that there are three threads about the 9th, but they do not just focus on favorite recordings.  So, which do you enjoy the most.  No limit, but I will stand at three:

My three favorite interpretative visions at this time of the 9th are as follows:

Dohnányi/Cleveland-Chorals are unmatched here for me.
Furtwängler/BPO '42-Incredible passion and drive.
HvK/BPO '63 ('62)-Combines my first two reasons nicely.

[Gurn Blanston]

More or less in order, for now:

Orchestre Revolutionnaire et Romantique / Gardiner

London SO / Jochum ('63?)

Royal Liverpool PO / MacKerras

Berlin PO / Karajan ('63)

Cleveland Orchestra / Dohnányi

Unfortunately, most of the HIPsters have subscribed to Norrington's misguided interpretation of the Turkish alla Marcia section of the last movement to be played as a Marche Funebre, which ruins the whole thing for me.

[Bogey]

More or less in order, for now:

Orchestre Revolutionnaire et Romantique / Gardiner

London SO / Jochum ('63?)

Royal Liverpool PO / MacKerras

Berlin PO / Karajan ('63)

Cleveland Orchestra / Dohnányi

Unfortunately, most of the HIPsters have subscribed to Norrington's misguided interpretation of the Turkish alla Marcia section of the last movement to be played as a Marche Funebre, which ruins the whole thing for me.

Wow...two out of your five match up.  I better look into the other three you listed.  Pleased that you enjoyed the Dohnányi being the connoisseur of this piece that I am sure you will not admit that you are, but you are just that.

[Que]

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.


Second in place is Eugen Jochum and the Concertgebouw Orchestra. Some find him middle of the road but I disagree - apart from Furtwängler, who is in a special category of his own, this is the best the traditional Germanic LvB tradition had to offer: sturdy and intense Beethoven that progresses like clockwork, with an inevitability in each twist, turn and next layer. I have to admit that the orchestra also contributes to my choice: the whole cycle is a monument to the RCO.




Third is Furtwängler's '42 BPO recording. To be frank: the intensity, desperation and apocalyptic atmosphere FW projects onto the piece is not in line with the essence of the 9th - as I see it. But this performance is so gripping - it becomes the piece FW wants it to be.



Q

[Bogey]

Second in place is Eugen Jochum and the Concertgebouw Orchestra. Some find him middle of the road but I disagree - apart from Furtwängler, who is in a special category of his own, this is the best the traditional Germanic LvB tradition had to offer: sturdy and intense Beethoven that progresses like clockwork, with an inevitability in each twist, turn and next layer. I have to admit that the orchestra also contributes to my choice: the whole cycle is a monument to the RCO.




Q

And another Jochum.  How is the Jochum as a complete cycle, as that is how it is now sold.?

[M forever]

Unfortunately, most of the HIPsters have subscribed to Norrington's misguided interpretation of the Turkish alla Marcia section of the last movement to be played as a Marche Funebre, which ruins the whole thing for me.

Norrington has long admitted that he was wrong about that, and he has "corrected" his mistake in his later recording in Stuttgart. Who actually followed him in his earlier decision to play the march at half speed? I can't think of anyone off the top off my head.

I also have the Cleveland/Dohnányi recording, but, as much as I am a fan of that particular orchestra/conductor combination, I wasn't too impressed by it. For this general kind of approach, let's call it "modern classicist" for want of a better term, I much prefer NDR/Wand and SD/Blomstedt (the live recording, although the studio one is pretty good, too). The Wand recording feels particularly "right" in tone and expression, the gestural quality of the playing, and at the same time, the orchestra sounds great, rich and deep, but highly articulated, sonorous, but not "fat".

I don't really have one or even several "favorites" for this piece, but I have always liked the 1977 Karajan recording a lot, the singing is particularly good (Tomowa-Sintow, Baltsa, Schreier, van Dam). Böhm's last recording is also very interesting, extremely slow but musically very good, really good singers, too (Norman, Fassbaender, Domingo, Berry).

[sidoze]

Third is Furtwängler's '42 BPO recording. To be frank: the intensity, desperation and apocalyptic atmosphere FW projects onto the piece is not in line with the essence of the 9th - as I see it. But this performance is so gripping - it becomes the piece FW wants it to be.

The Hitler birthday bash is the wildest of them all.

[Gabriel]

Norrington has long admitted that he was wrong about that, and he has "corrected" his mistake in his later recording in Stuttgart. Who actually followed him in his earlier decision to play the march at half speed? I can't think of anyone off the top off my head.

I guess it is a surprise for any listener. If I remember well, the problem was that Norrington followed Beethoven's metronome markings. It is good, I guess, to have at least one recording that follows them so we can listen to how it works!

[Mozart]

Gunter Wand!

[Renfield]

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



Wilhelm Furtwängler conducts in the twilight of his live 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.

I have to say I agree 100% with you, Que: in fact, if you hadn't "beaten me to the punch", I'd have at best said the exact same things about the Furtwangler Lucerne 9th. If we were to suppose orchestral recordings could be graded from one to ten, then this Beethoven 9th would surely have been among the very few recordings I'd find it in myself to say deserve a ten. Outstanding, really!

Second choice for a recording of the Ninth would, for me, be either the late 70's Herbert von Karajan/BPO one, or the early 60's Herbert von Karajan/BPO recording that preceded it. Karajan somehow managed to project something especially unique in Beethoven's 9th, which - even though he never reached the heights Furtwangler did, in the piece - is enough for me to place him second. Between the aforementioned alternatives, the 1977 recording exhibits greater "elan" and is, on the whole, my preferred "Karajan reading" of the 9th; but the 1963 recording benefits from what I consider more "thrust" in the choral part, as well as better singing (in my opinion).

Apart from these, I do not think my personal recommendation of Beethoven 9ths would be complete without mention of the Klemperer/Philharmonia 1957 live recording recently issued by Testament - which I consider a (literally) tremendous performance, if a bit too "raw" for my personal preference - or the Vanska/Minnesota recording that came out this year, which I also hold in very high esteem.

Still, there are many performances of the symphony that I - naturally - haven't heard yet, like the Jochum/Concertgebouw recording Que mentioned above. In other words, this is by no means an exhaustive appraisal.

[Holden]

I initially imprinted on the LP version by Cluytens/BPO and while this is a very good 9th it no longer sits in my top echelon of recordings of this work. Historical performances are important and the best IMO (and agreeing with Que) is the Lucerne byWilhelm  Furtwangler just before his death.. While the WF '42 is touted as the greatest, I prefer the Lucerne bu far.

My favourite overall is easy. The Fricsay/BPO with DF-D as the baritone/bass is an absolute marvel. A very taut and clean orchestral sound enhances the drama of (i). A speedy and vibrant scherzo followed by a slow movement that doesn't drag is finished off with the best solo and choral work of any 9th I've ever heard. This is almost the ultimate 'Choral'

This could have been bettered by one other recording but the choice (I don't really think he had any) of bass baritone ruined what could have been the ultimate version. I'm speaking of the Leibowitz/RPO and when I first heard it I thought Yes, This is it! right up until the entry of Ludwig Weber - a soloist well past his prime - when the balloon was deflated. His off tune warbling just ruins the whole of (iv) for me. I wonder who else was available at the time within the budget constraints Leibowitz was under.

[Bogey]

Yes, This is it! right up until the entry of Ludwig Weber - a soloist well past his prime - when the balloon was deflated. His off tune warbling just ruins the whole of (iv) for me. I wonder who else was available at the time within the budget constraints Leibowitz was under.

And I agree with Gurn (at least I believe he feels this way) that this a key moment and can actually make or break the recording.

And two other Lucerne '54's....I better give it another listen. 

[Mark]

Of the 13 or so recordings I own, I continually return to Sanderling's take from 1981 with the Philharmonia & Chorus. What I look for in this work is to feel emotionally 'taken over the edge' by the finale's close: I want to be almost in tears, ready to weep with ... well, joy. I want to feel like this is an anthem and a rallying cry to unite all men. Sanderling delivers.

Two other recordings run the Sanderling a very close second for me. Both of Abbado's outings on DG are spectacular (the VPO recording much 'broader' in conception than the later BPO one), but it's the singing and power of the BPO recording's finale which blows me away. I also have a soft spot for the recent-ish LSO Live release under Haitink ... but I admit partiality here, as I attended that concert. Nonetheless, Haitink gets closest to Sanderling for the way he powers the finale, and on more than one occasion, I've felt my eyes welling up towards the end (always a good sign).

Further mention might be made of Blomstedt's recording with the SD, which despite a rather close, almost 'boxy' acoustic, is still a very compelling performance.

The two recordings I return to with ongoing reluctance (in an effort to understand what all the fuss is about) are the recent Vanska on BIS, and Barenboim's take on Warner - the former not living up to the ultra-hype of the reviews that led me to it, the latter being the only recording of this work where I actually prayed it would soon be ended.

[Renfield]

The two recordings I return to with ongoing reluctance (in an effort to understand what all the fuss is about) are the recent Vanska on BIS, and Barenboim's take on Warner - the former not living up to the ultra-hype of the reviews that led me to it, the latter being the only recording of this work where I actually prayed it would soon be ended.

The Vanska is indeed a quirky 9th, but I personally find it quite rewarding, if you "tune in" to Vanska's vision of the work. Admittedly, he does drive the tempos a little hard... But nothing like David Zinman, for instance.

It's probably Vanska's reductionist - but not H.I.P. - approach that appeals to me so much; and it's probably the "fear" of the exact opposite that keeps me away from Barenboim's Beethoven, for that matter. Still, I might be wrong.

[Xenophanes]

Otmar Suitner and the Berlin Staatskapelle on Denon is my favorite.  It's a very fine performance and the recording is very smooth.

Leibowitz and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and The Beecham Choral Society reissued on Chesky.

Karajan 1962.

[M forever]

I guess it is a surprise for any listener. If I remember well, the problem was that Norrington followed Beethoven's metronome markings.

The problem was that there was an error in the metronome marking. I don't remember the details so well either, somehow they confused the note value the metronomic value was assigned to, so taken literally, it ended up at half speed. Since this is a specific type of fast march, it is pretty obvious that there is a simple error here in the printed scores of earlier editions. Norrington admitted that later. I don't know if this has been finally cleared up by Del Mar's new edition.

[hornteacher]

Mackerras/Royal Liverpool Orchestra (perfect in all ways except the trio of the scherzo is too slow for me)

Wand/North German Radio Symphony (fantastic scherzo, I wanted more horn sound in the first movement though)

Metha/New York Philharmonic (my favorite live recording, the finale is unbelieveably good)

[Xenophanes]

I initially imprinted on the LP version by Cluytens/BPO and while this is a very good 9th it no longer sits in my top echelon of recordings of this work. Historical performances are important and the best IMO (and agreeing with Que) is the Lucerne byWilhelm  Furtwangler just before his death.. While the WF '42 is touted as the greatest, I prefer the Lucerne bu far.

My favourite overall is easy. The Fricsay/BPO with DF-D as the baritone/bass is an absolute marvel. A very taut and clean orchestral sound enhances the drama of (i). A speedy and vibrant scherzo followed by a slow movement that doesn't drag is finished off with the best solo and choral work of any 9th I've ever heard. This is almost the ultimate 'Choral'

This could have been bettered by one other recording but the choice (I don't really think he had any) of bass baritone ruined what could have been the ultimate version. I'm speaking of the Leibowitz/RPO and when I first heard it I thought Yes, This is it! right up until the entry of Ludwig Weber - a soloist well past his prime - when the balloon was deflated. His off tune warbling just ruins the whole of (iv) for me. I wonder who else was available at the time within the budget constraints Leibowitz was under.

At the time of the Leibowitz recording (June 3, 5, and 7, 1961), Ludwig Weber was 61 going on 62.  He was still singing at Bayreuth and was apparently quite eminent, though this is the only recording of him I have, I think. Over 60 was pretty old in those days so he was probably past his prime, but he still sang pretty well.  However, I think the main difficulty some have with his performance here is his old fashioned style of singing, including the use of portamento, which is generally out of fashion in recent decades, though I use it a bit on some songs. Some points of that old fashioned style are discussed by Eric van Tassel:

http://www.mvdaily.com/articles/1999/08/weber.htm

Besides, the Leibowitz recording is so good in many respects that it seems strange to me to let this ruin the whole performance.

[Gurn Blanston]

Norrington has long admitted that he was wrong about that, and he has "corrected" his mistake in his later recording in Stuttgart. Who actually followed him in his earlier decision to play the march at half speed? I can't think of anyone off the top off my head.

Hogwood and Goodman, for 2. Since I don't have Brüggen, that pretty well is 3 of 4 of my period instrument versions...



Edit: Neither are as slow as Norrington, but both are much slower than suits me.

[Gurn Blanston]

Gunter Wand!

Yes, NDR/Wand is also an excellent performance. Didn't know how long the list should be...

The Vanska is indeed a quirky 9th, but I personally find it quite rewarding, if you "tune in" to Vanska's vision of the work. Admittedly, he does drive the tempos a little hard... But nothing like David Zinman, for instance.

It's probably Vanska's reductionist - but not H.I.P. - approach that appeals to me so much; and it's probably the "fear" of the exact opposite that keeps me away from Barenboim's Beethoven, for that matter. Still, I might be wrong.

I really like Vänskä too, as well as Zinman... see above.

One could scarcely name them all, could one?