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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
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.

moryoga's avatar
moryoga OP
103 posts
 
Recommendations of either downloads or cd's are appreciated. Thanks!
dtc's avatar
dtc
1,047 posts
 
Many consider the Furtwangler recording during the war years (1942 version) as one of the best, if not the best, ever. The recording quality is not up to modern standards, but the pure drive and emotion is hard to beat. Should be in anyone's collection if they are serious about Beethoven's 9th. His 1951 Bayreuth  version is also recommended - better recording and better soprano. The 1942 version is available as part of a boxed set. Not sure if it is easily available on CD otherwise.

In the end, there is no best 9th. The interpretation is key and the quality of the soprano is critical to many. Many find Furtwangler slow and ponderous, others find him the true master. You need to decide for yourself.

https://www.amazon.com/Furtwangler-Conducts-Beethoven-Symphonies-Overtures/dp/B00001W09Z
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