THE SYMPHONIES
When it comes to Beethoven Symphonies, there are numerous recordings available. I have chosen a different conductor for the recommended works simply to give you a nice cross-section of interpretations. Any recording by these conductors are a good choice, and there are many different combinations of works to choose from.
Beethoven's 'Pastoral'
Symphony No. 6 is my favorite, and this older recording by Karajan
[1] also includes a collection of three overtures. The recording is from
1977, and is a well-remastered analog recording at a budget price. Kleiber
[2] on DG gives us the best 5th Symphony ever, coupled with the
7th. Solti and Chicago
[3] are a good bet with the 'Choral' Symphony No. 9 on London.
There are two recordings available by Solti, and I tend to prefer the later
1986 CD.
For a complete set of all 9 symphonies, you have Karajan and Bohm.
The Karajan [4]
set with the Berliner Phil is one of three sets available, and these
are the earliest recordings from 1963. However, the recording of Symphony
6 is not the a very good performance in this set, otherwise a great collection.
His 1977 recording is much better [see above]. There is also a set from the
late 1970's and 'Karagan Gold' digital recordings from the 1980's. As a whole,
a good set of solid performances, and recently remastered with better sound.
Bohm's recordings with the Vienna Phil are split over 3 DoubleCD
sets, but if you want to fill in any missing symphonies, this is the way to
do it. Bohm gives good, clean performances, no fancy tricks here, but
I really like what he does with these works, and are definitely a safe bet.
A few of Beethoven's overtures are added as fillers on two of the sets.
For an alternate recording of The Complete Symphonies, Toscanini
[5] is worth a listen. This set includes Symphonies 1-9 on 5 CDs.
The recordings are mono, the sound is dated but not bad, and the conducting
is classic Toscanini. Everyone should have at least one of his recordings
in their collection, and this would be a good place to start. This is also
a good way to get a complete set to fill out your collection of individual
symphonies.
George Szell and the Cleveland Orchestra [6] have some great recordings of the Beethoven Symphonies, and a Sony French import set has all 9 symphonies along with the 5 Piano Concertos, featuring Leon Fleischer. Apparently the liner notes are in French, however you get a great set of performances at a pretty good price, available from Amazon.com. It also seems to be the only way to get all 5 Concertos from Szell/Fleischer in the currently available catalog.
| Symphony
No. 6 in F major ("Pastoral") Various Overtures [1] Conductor: Herbert von Karajan Orchestra: Berliner Philharmoniker Label: DG - Catalog: 15833 |
Symphonies
5 & 7 [2] Conductor: Kleiber Ensemble: Vienna Philh Orch Label: DG Catalog: 447400 |
| Symphony
9 [3] Conductor: Sir Georg Solti Ensemble: Chicago Symphony Chorus Label: London - Catalog: 448617 |
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Symphonies
1 2 4 & 5 |
Symphonies
1-9 [5CD Set] [4] Conductor: Herbert von Karajan Ensemble: Berlin Philh Orch Label: DG - Catalog: 429036 |
| Symphonies
6 7 & 8 Conductor: Karl Böhm Ensemble: Vienna Philh Orch Label: DG - Catalog: 437928 |
Symphonies
1-9 [5] Conductor: Arturo Toscanini Ensemble: NBC Symphony Orchestra Label: RCA - Catalog: 55702 |
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Symphonies
3 & 9 |
Symphonies
1-9 [6] Piano Concertos 1-5 Conductor: George Szell Piano: Leon Fleischer Label: Sony - Catalog: Import |