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"Best" Beethoven 9 Symphonies Recording, Digital

Howdy,
I'm hoping to zero in on the combination "best" of sound/recording quality and, of course, performance.
I did a search here on Agon and the last posting was in 2003, so perhaps there's a new pressing, mastering or even performance. 
I've been a prog-rock, blues, grateful dead type of guy most of my life but have recently started appreciating the symphonic/classical genre. These guys, ie. Beethoven, Mozart, Bach, Vivaldi etc, were really something else, that two to three hundred years after their compositions, so many of the works are still so powerful. Remarkable.
I do most if not all my non-classical listening on a ARC Ref series tube amp set-up, with a Basis 2800 tt and Raidho C1.1s, but for classical I've gone digital with headphones. The truly awesome Stax Sr-009 electrostat headphones through a Blue Hawaii headphone tube amp running through a Schiit multibit dac, all I can say is wow. So seeking out the best recordings, because what else is there to do :)
Thanks!
128x128moryoga

Showing 3 responses by lowrider57

lowrider57's avatar
lowrider57
5,397 posts
 
Conductors have different approaches to interpreting Beethoven’s symphonies. Beethoven used metronome notations on his scores, so some performances reflect these quick tempos (Gardiner), while other conductors use a larger orchestra and slower tempi.

Rene Leibowitz/Royal Philharmonic on Chesky Records has outstanding SQ, and follows the faster historically accurate pacing.
Really incredible Redbook CD sound, ADD.

Barenboim "The Nine Symphonies" on Warner Classics (Teldec) is a boxed set with excellent sound. These interpretations use a large orchestra and a slower, romantic tempo. DDD.

Some call John Eliot Gardiner’s recordings the "definitive Beethoven." These are dynamic performances which follow Beethoven’s notations for quicker pacing than most modern performances.
I think both interpretations should be experienced.
lowrider57's avatar
lowrider57
5,397 posts
 
I’m a fan of Karajan’s 1963 cycle. The remastered box set is fantastisch, with good remastering, but is not top sound quality.
I highly recommend it, but you are looking for the best SQ. Vanska/Minn. is a high quality modern recording.
lowrider57's avatar
lowrider57
5,397 posts
 
@moryoga
You didn’t say if you were looking for CD’s or downloads, but every Beethoven collector should have Carlos Kleiber’s version of Symphony no. 5. It is magnificent, one of the greatest 5th’s ever recorded. Also contains a very good Symphony no. 7.

Recorded in 1975 on analogue tape by DG, it doesn’t suffer from the over-miking that became the standard for recording an orchestra. It also has plenty of concert hall ambience; it’s a real "you are there" performance.

Carlos Kleiber/Vienna Philharmonic Redbook...
https://www.amazon.com/Beethoven-Symphonies-Nos-5-7/dp/B000001GPX

There is also a new SACD version, which is said to be remastered.

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