Your favorite recordings of Beethoven's 9th symphony

[DarkAngel]

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!

I just acquired this 2009 release Abbado DVD set recently........Amazon sellers USA have it for $25, now that is a bargain! I already have the maroon box CD versions so I know the performance is good, now you can get high quality wide screen format DVDs.......yes!

Symphony 9 - live 5/2000, Karita Mattila, Violeta Urmana, Thomas Moser, Eike Schulte

[Leo K.]

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



Q

Wow!  This issue sounds amazing.

[RJR]

Concerning the Alla Marcia:
Your mind's eye should conjure up Pan playing his pipe, followed by a procession of dancing maidens not far behind, tossing flower petals in the air, because ...
'It don't mean a thing if it ain't got that swing'
Duke Ellington

[czgirb]

For me:
* Furtwangler EMI ... if not wrong, it should be 1951's recordings ... MONO
* Harnoncourt TELDEC ... STEREO
* Karajan DGG ... if not wrong, it should be 1963's cycle ... STEREO
* Toscanini RCA ... MONO

[André]

Bump.

I can't believe it's almost 14 years since the last post here.😵

Some notable versions I always enjoy listening to. They may be very different from one another, but that's even better IMO. The music can take it !

- Christoph Spering, The Beethoven Academy. A scandalously fast Adagio notwithstanding, this version sweeps the board for me among HIP performances. It is part of a recreation of the complete concert programme from 7th May 1824, held at Vienna's Court Theatre, where Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 was first performed. The other works on this 2-disc set are the overture 'Die Weihe des Hauses' (The Consecration of the House) and also the Kyrie, Credo and Agnus Dei from the Missa Solemnis, here presented as 'Drei Hymnen' (a full liturgical setting was not allowed to be performed in a concert setting). The whole set is a wonderful musical experience.

-At the other end of the spectrum, Karl Böhm's last recording, with the Wiener Philharmoniker. It s fully 20 minutes longer than Spering's (with one repeat less in the scherzo) and of course features the crème de la crème of modern instruments. The special tone of the viennese oboes and horns can be heard here. The best movement is the finale, taken by Böhm with a surprising variety of tempo fluctuations (a faster than usual allegro following the baritone's O Freunde, nicht diese töne), a slower march (the tenor solo), everything alive from first note to last. All four soloists shine, with a solar contribution from Placido Domingo, a beautifully fleshy contribution from Jessye Norman and a surprisingly sonorous, solid one from bass baritone Walter Berry. The whole thing culminates wonderfully in the incandescent coda.

- I also love the ridiculously excitable live version from Boston's Symphony Hall under Charles Munch, recorded a couple of days before the RCA commercial recording (an eloquent demonstration of the difference between live and studio performances) . The whole thing almost goes off the rails in the finale, but the exhilaration and sheer schutzpah of this performance makes everyone else seem tepid in comparison.

- Others I find almost as good: the incisive Böhm WP from 1970, a buoyant, ecstatic Schuricht with the Paris OSCC, Bernstein with the WP (some amazing personal touches from the conductor and the stentorian black bass of Kurt Moll), Fricsay in Berlin (great conception and execution, the sound starting to show its age though).

An interesting curiosity: Yannick Nézet-Séguin, COE, Accentus. The first movement charges ahead, with a dynamic range that is smaller than what one is used to.  The big outbursts don't sound like nuclear blasts but are integrated in the movement's forward impetus instead of interrupting it. The scherzo has one very noticeable novelty: the 4 angry timpani strokes (normally played f-f-f-p) are played ff-f-mf-p, sempre diminuendo.  Apparently this is part of a new edition's many tiny differences (that one is quite obvious though).

What sets this version apart is its emphasis on textural clarity (winds and brass details amazingly clear) and a forward impetus not reliant on the strings (Karajan brought that to an extreme). The soloists are adequate but (maybe intentionally) sound slightly anonymous. The instrumental coda is exhilarating. Not entirely convincing, but many details stick obstinately in the mind and could well become how I will expect the 9th to sound when listening to new versions.

[Valentino]

Thank you for the tip, @André. YN-Z and COE shall be my next listen. I just heard the Fricsay again, so different sounds are welcome.

[vmartell]

14 years thread - ha. Well it is a common subject - not much to add, loved seeing the Fricsay mentioned.  Don't forget 

Hans Schmidt-Isserstedt for fantastic kapellmeister Beethoven 

https://www.discogs.com/release/8818883-Beethoven-Wilhelm-Backhaus-Henryk-Szeryng-Wiener-Philharmoniker-Hans-Schmidt-Isserstedt-The-Symphoni

And Bruno Walter's late Vienna one

https://www.discogs.com/release/26012428-Ludwig-van-Beethoven-Wiener-Philharmoniker-Hilde-G%C3%BCden-Elisabeth-H%C3%B6ngen-Erich-Majkut-Gottlob-Frick

[ShineyMcShineShine]

Off-topic but the when I finally sat down and listened to the ninth for the first I was greatly disappointed. The ode an der freude chorus should evoke such an outpouring of emotion but Beethoven teases it over and over so many times, revealing more and more of it each time, that by the time it finally arrives it's anticlimactic: we've already heard 85% of it. It's like a modern movie trailer that reveals the entire plot of the movie.

[eoghan]

Favourites - which may give away my preferences - are Savall and Herreweghe, with a shout to Suzuki, Karajan and Gardiner.