Orange County Register

Classical Life (this blog) recently took a poll of its readers, asking them to name their favorite Beethoven symphony. (The Seventh got the most votes.) As an added feature, those voters were then asked to name their favorite recording of the symphony that they had voted for. A list of their recorded picks is below.

In building a library of classical music recordings, the Beethoven symphonies are of course a must. I think many listeners make the mistake, however, of buying a complete set of The Nine, with one orchestra and one conductor. While there are undoubtedly many great recorded sets of the Beethoven symphonies, it’s much more interesting to buy them singly and build your set one by one. That way you get to sample a variety of interpretive approaches, different orchestras and different labels.

The list below is an interesting one, I think, with some usual suspects certainly, but also a few surprises.  I have included all of the recommendations (and links to their Amazon pages), so most of the symphonies have multiple suggestions for recordings. I added a recommendation myself for the Symphony No. 1, since that, alas, remained an orphan, and one for Symphony No. 8, since the recording suggested by a reader is not readily available.

Classical Life Readers’ List of Recommended Beethoven Symphony Recordings: 

Symphony No. 1: The Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, conductor. (Teldec).

Symphony No. 2: Philharmonia Orchestra, Otto Klemperer, conductor. (EMI Classics).

Symphony No. 3, “Eroica”: NBC Symphony Orchestra, Arturo Toscanini, conductor. (Music and Arts Program); Cleveland Orchestra, George Szell, conductor. (Sony); Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Lovro von Matacic, conductor (Supraphon); BBC Symphony Orchestra, Colin Davis, conductor (nla).

Symphony No. 4: Bayerisches Staatsorchester, Carlos Kleiber, conductor. (Orfeo); Philharmonia Orchestra, Kurt Sanderling, conductor (Capitol).

Symphony No. 5: Los Angeles Philharmonic, Carlo Maria Giulini, conductor (Deutsche Grammophon); Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Carlos Kleiber, conductor (Deutsche Grammophon).

Symphony No. 6, “Pastoral”: Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Pierre Monteux, conductor. (Decca); Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Simon Rattle conductor (EMI Classics); Bavarian State Opera Orchestra, Carlos Kleiber, conductor (Orfeo).

Symphony No. 7: Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Carlos Kleiber, conductor. (Deutsche Grammophon); Chicago Symphony, Carlo Maria Giulini, conductor (EMI Classics); Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Herbert von Karajan, conductor. 1960s recording. (Deutsche Grammophon); Zurich Tonhalle Orchestra, David Zinman, conductor (Arte Nova Classics); London Symphony Orchestra, Pierre Monteux, conductor. (Decca).

Symphony No. 8: Philharmonia Orchestra, Kurt Sanderling, conductor. (nla); Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Thomas Beecham, conductor. (EMI Classics).

Symphony No. 9, “Choral”: Bayreuth Festival Orchestra, Wilhelm Furtwangler, conductor. 1951. (Orfeo ); Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Felix Weingartner, conductor. (Naxos).

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