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In Reply to: RE: Beethoven Symphony #9 recommendations? posted by Tracy on May 16, 2017 at 19:23:40
I like the Reiner mentioned by another poster. Klemperer's reading is one of the best things in his Beethoven sets, and Karajan's early 60s version is one of the better things in that set. Fricsay was a great conductor, but I feel that he is a little intrusive in his direction - but many love that reading. Szell and Walter are worth hearing, too. Oh, and Jochum's Philips reading with the Concertgebouw.....
Lotsa good ones.
Follow Ups:
OK, TMI, most likely, but I would avoid Bohm (in fact the whole set- Bohm is a completely square and boring conductor, IMO), Ansermet (the playing sounds like a parody of HIP performance. I understand there are decent renderings of some of the symphonies in his set, but the 9th isn't one of them), and of course, most controversial, any of the Furtwangler recordings of the 9th - I have heard 3 of them, and to me they are all of a piece, and more about Furtwangler than the music. Others adore Furtie, so your mileage may vary.
Can you elaborate? I'm unfamiliar with the term other than the contemporary "hip hop" phrase which might be considered "hip." Somehow I doubt that's what you mean :)
HIP stands for Historically Informed Performance. Usually applies to both instruments and performance practice.
I did look it up, but it was after I posted the question. Still, your answer is there for others to read. Thank you. I will now have to hear such a performance of Beethoven's 9th. Am I understanding correctly that Ansermet's recording was his reading which sounded HIP but was not actually meant to be period correct?
It sounds to my ears like a parody of a HIP performance - in other words, it is a really poor performance, in my opinion. The orchestra has absolutely no feel for the music.
Klemper, according to musicologists, has the closest to perfect tempi through all the movements. His was long regarded as the baseline.
Get several different versions! The Glorious 9th is, after all, the single greatest work of human creativity. It moves we Bears to tears without fail.
I'm not sure that THAT many folks considered the Klemperer to be THE baseline - the English critics certainly revered him, and his was the first 9th I was exposed to, by my German teacher. That was about 1968 or 1969, and there were many who argued that Toscanini was definitive, or argued for Furtwangler's Bayreuth performance, Szell and Walter were in the mix, and Lennie had a new version out, many liked the Reiner, et al. But Klemperer's was up there.
Klemperer's Beethoven set is really interesting but also eccentric in many ways - the reading of the 5th is almost bizarre, and with that, and the overall slowish tempos, I wouldn't recommend the Klemperer set as a first choice. However, the 9th is a powerful performance, and I like it a lot.
Interesting- I was exposed to the Klemperer at almost the same time, around 1967, by my music teacher- who conned the school into buying a real HiFi- AR table, Dyna SCA-80 integrated, and small KLH's, which sounded quite nice for those music appreciation classes. That teacher was a real wacko- got tossed out of school for throwing music stand at girl- I saw the whole thing... He was nuts! Gave me a sweet Heathkit tube mono power amp one summer.
Big J
"... only a very few individuals understand as yet that personal salvation is a contradiction in terms."
Stokowski on Phase 4 is surprisingly good - shame that it is on one diss, with a side break in the 3rd movement.
The equalization on the London SPC release is absurd, with booming bass and shrieking treble. The Decca is quite listenable.
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