Symphony 5th - best recording

eugene ormandy-beethoven's 5th and 6th-sony cd. superb

I was kind of doubting they would play the 5th by Mahler or Shostakovich on the kids show.....even though little Einsteins, but still......

I have Beethoven's 5th, conducted by Karajan on DG that is a very good performance and a good recording.

Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique under the direction of Sir John Eliot Gardiner (Archiv Produktion). Positively the most historically accurate and exciting performances of all nine Beethoven Symphonies. The small orchestra performs Beethoven with a clarity unobtainable with a large modern orchestra. You'll hear parts and details you never knew were in the score. The dynamics are spectacular. The balance between classical and romantic stylistic interpretation is perfectly suited to the transitional time period of the music. And the recording quality is excellent.

But, of course, if you're used to the bloated sound of von Karajan's interpretation, or the overly romantic interpretation of Bernstein's, then you'll completely disagree.

Ojgalli, And if he only partially disagrees he might find Harnoncourt's set to be a refreshing alternative to either VK or Bernstein. But, if he wants period instruments and performance I think you're right on.

FWIW, for those looking for a complete set, I think Bernstein is often, and unjustly, overlooked. "While it may be 'bloated' he sure keeps my foot tapping! :-)

Now we have established that it is Beethoven, I am partial to Christopher Hogwood's version using instruments available at the time Beethoven was alive (or replicas)....rather than modern variations of these instruments.

That way you hear the performance closer to what the composer intended or heard or, in the case of Beethoven, may not have heard, except in his head.