Whats the best version of Beethovens Symphonies?
There is no ‘best’ version. All you will get here is other people’s opinions. These might differ considerably from yours. Personally, I detest Karajan’s Beethoven (I dislike most of his recordings with a few exceptions). For Karajan it was nearly always more about HIM than it was about the music. Personally, I like the versions by André Cluytens (with the Berlin Philharmonic in the late 1950s/early 1960s), Roger Norrington (a fascinating – and controversial – period-instrument alternative to Brüggen) and (surprisingly) Christoph von Dohnányi (very powerful, muscular performances) with the Cleveland Orchestra. I never understood what all the fuss was about with Zinman’s Tonhalle recordings – lightweight performances blemished with too many fiddly decorations which I personally don’t believe are at all ‘authentic’ and detract from the flow of the music. Some individual performances to get hold of if you can: Nos 5 & 7 – Carlos Kleiber/Vienna Philharmonic No 3 – Kirill Kondrashin/Amsterda
