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9dk
2007-06-25, 08:52
Hi,

Please share your thoughts on your favorite (must have) Beethoven recordings. I will start. :)

Symphonies: Definitely the Gardiner set. IMO this is the best complete cycle available - vigorous, fast, and well recorded. Honorable mention: Karajan (1962). There are better performances out there, but you surely can't beat it in price. These days you can buy this worth having set for mid 30USD. Quite a bargain.

Piano Concertos (1-5): Fleisher/Szell - a classic performance and a must own recording. Just listen to Fleisher play the 3rd - precise, fast moving, heroic. The remastered version is a must have! (appr. 11USD for a set)

String Quartets: A tie between Alban Berg & Emerson. The Emerson set is very, very well recorded. The Alban Berg's paying is mindlowing!

Violin Concerto in D: So much to choose from. I like Menuhin, but for more recent recordings, Joshua Bell and Hilary Hahn is also worth a listen.

Piano Sonatas: I like Kempff for this one. Goode is also worth having. Pollini's late sonatas is freaking amazing.

Violin Sonatas: This one's a no-brainer - Perlman/Ashkenazy .
Havoc
2007-06-25, 11:18
Piano Concerto's: Jos van Immerseel with Tafelmusic conductor Weil
jt25741
2007-06-30, 08:32
I have Gardner and enjoy them much, but I think I enjoy the size and natural/simple recording style of the Abbado/Berlin Symphony's, particularly the 5th, 6th and 9th. The recordings are better -- especially DVD-A versions which I have. Pace is similarly fast, as Abbado as rather anal about that -- but instruments are modern and BIG.

What are your thoughts on these?
9dk
2007-07-01, 00:14
Jt,

I have not had the chance to listen to Abbado's 5th and 6th, but I do have his 9th(1996/Sony) on CD. I have just just listened to it and it is indeed very impressive, especially the 4th mvmt with Ben Heppner's "Ode to Joy". I'm actually a big fan of Abbado, and his recording of Beethoven's 5 piano concertos with Pollini is one of my favorites. By chance, have you heard the new Vänskä's Ninth? It is excellent.
jt25741
2007-07-01, 09:06
Jt,

I have not had the chance to listen to Abbado's 5th and 6th, but I do have his 9th(1996/Sony) on CD. I have just just listened to it and it is indeed very impressive, especially the 4th mvmt with Ben Heppner's "Ode to Joy". I'm actually a big fan of Abbado, and his recording of Beethoven's 5 piano concertos with Pollini is one of my favorites. By chance, have you heard the new Vänskä's Ninth? It is excellent.

Nope I have not...looks great and has recieved some excellent reviews. I do not have SACD reply capability, but I suspect that version sounds amazing in 5.1, ect. I enjoy the Minnesota sound and their historic attention to fidelity coupled with their competant performances. Particularly my favorite on the Reference Recordings Label, Pictures at an Exhibition under Oui.
gharris999
2007-07-01, 10:00
What about the Takács recordings of the string quartets? I especially love the middle quartets in their recordings.
Chris_Zug
2007-09-10, 14:13
Please don´t forget the amazing recording of the 5th and 7th Symphony with Carlos Kleiber and the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra from the late 70ies.
westernboy
2007-09-10, 16:49
Ninth Symphony, recorded live 1980, by the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Amsterdam, conducted by Bernard Haitink. Just love the buildup to Schiller's Ode To Joy.
9dk
2007-09-16, 21:02
Please don´t forget the amazing recording of the 5th and 7th Symphony with Carlos Kleiber and the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra from the late 70ies.

Agreed. Has anyone here listened to Kleiber Sr.'s 3rd and 5th by chance?
9dk
2007-09-16, 21:04
What about the Takács recordings of the string quartets? I especially love the middle quartets in their recordings.

I have yet to hear Takacs although I did hear good things about it. I've recently bought a Julliard and Vegh set. Both are excellent performances, if you don't mind mono (for Vegh).