Most Sublime Beethoven Symphony


I am not an expert, but to me, the Beethoven Symphonies are divine.

I have especially enjoyed listening to the 3rd, 6th, and 9th and have a couple of versions of each floating around in my collection.

Perhaps they are just to my taste, but I seem to discover new things about them that draw me back again and again long after I have tired of other "classics".

A friend of mine who knows a lot more about music than I recommends Von Karajan highly, but I would love to hear from any of you regarding your thoughts on the best symphony, conducter, recording, performance etc. Would you agree that there is something very special about these works?

Any Beethoven gurus out there? Please give us your expert advice and opinions. Thank you.
cwlondon

Showing 3 responses by sugarbrie

Both spellings of Bohm / Boehm are correct. Depends which language you are spelling in. Same as the use of Rachmaninoff or Rachmaninov; and Shostakovich or Chostakovich.
Yes the Kleiber are worth getting. Also fun is the 5th and 7th by Benjamin Zander and the Philharmonia Orchestra that has a companion CD lecture by Zander of both symphonies. (Ben Zander also praises Kleiber in his lecture).


I've heard all the complete sets, and my favorite Beethoven symphony complete cycle is a rare unheard one to most. It is with the City of Birmingham Orchestra conducted by Walter Weller; on the Chandos label. It even has the first movement of what historians think is a draft of the 10th symphony.