Best Performance/Recording of the 5th?

[Milanodan]

Hi, all

My first post here. Just wondering what some of you think the best performance/recording of Beethoven's 5th symphony is, and of course, why.

I'll post my own opinion on this later.

[Chris]

I'd say David Zinman's with the Tonhalle orchestra. It seems to really have the fire that makes the piece work so well.

[Sorrano]

My first experience with the 5th was with the Toscanini recording (1952 recording) and to this date it is my favorite. The recording has been remastered and I think they did a pretty good job with it. The energy that Toscanini gets out of his orchestra is superb and from start to finish I find it exhilarating each time I listen to it.

Btw, welcome to the forum, Milanodan!

[Roehre]

Welcome, Milanodan !

I don't think something like "the best" performance/recording of a work exists,
but my preferred reading of Beethoven 5 is Carlos Kleiber's mid1970s rendition of the work on DGG.

Why?
Drama, drive, demonic, good recording.

[Milanodan]

Great replies, and thanks for the welcome. I've got CDs of several conductors/orchestras, but every one of them doesn't sound anywhere near as good as Bernstein's.

He may have taken a lot of liberties with the score, but it sure works for me. I just played Rattle's performance with the Vienna Philharmonic, and he blasted thru the first movement like he had a hot date waiting.

I have a good story about him conducting that orchestra a few years ago. Nothing negative, and a huge experience for me. I'll start writing it and post it later.

[Sorrano]

Which Bernstein recording is it, might I ask? I've liked some of his Beethoven, as well.

[Milanodan]

Which Bernstein recording is it, might I ask? I've liked some of his Beethoven, as well.

It's CD #SMK63079, when he conducted the NY Philharmonic at the original dreadful NY hall (see next post). However, I've heard a little of his performance when he conducted the Vienna Philharmonic (on my crummy-sounding computer's built-in speakers), and the tempo, etc. sounded very similar.

I need to get a CD or DVD of that performance.

I would love, as I'm sure so many others here would, to be able to travel back in time to Dec. 22, 1808 and hear Beethoven conduct it the first time. I'd be sure to wear a lot of warm clothes!

[Milanodan]

My company sent my wife and me to Italy for 6 years, back in 1998. We traveled around quite a bit on weekends. One of those found us in Vienna. We soon found ourselves at the great concert hall there.

First, a little background info. I had studied the acoustics of concert halls as a minor in college, so I knew the Musikverein was right at the top of the heap.

Having no knowledge of hours or performances, I was just hoping to be able to get a quick peek at the inside of this great hall. Imaging my surprise when I found the ticket office open ~1 PM. I explained my desire, thinking how far in advance people had to get tickets. So it was a real shock when the ticket agent informed me that yes, I could take a look, but she still had two tickets left for a performance that started in a few hours, way up at the top of the upper balcony. Not good seats at all, but I wasn't about to complain.

So, I stupidly asked her what was playing, something by Mozart (whose stuff I simply cannot handle) played by the visiting Hollywood 101 Strings? "Oh no, she said, it was the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra being conducted by the visiting Sir Simon Rattle". Now she had my full attention.

Hoping it wasn't going to be WAM, I asked what was going to be performed. I nearly fell over as my knees got weak upon hearing "Beethoven's 4th and 7th symphonies"! I just could not believe our great luck. I bought the tickets, and the wife wanted to spend the waiting time looking around Vienna some more. Not a chance, I told her, we're waiting right here until seating time.

Finally after a few hours we were allowed to go to our seats. Then the light bulb went on. Told my wife I was going back to the lobby and see if they had any cancellations of seats already sold. As I entered the lobby, I saw a couple of women waving tickets over their heads, saying "tickets, tickets".

I asked the closest one what she had and how she got them, and she explained she was a tour guide and some of the people on her tour didn't want to hear any concerts. So, trying very hard not to appear too eager, I asked where her what seats her tickets were for.

She looked at them, and said "I've only got two pair, one pair on the main floor and one near the center front of the lower balcony" Good grief, the best seats in the house! WOW! Again trying my hardest to seem only mildly interested, I asked her how much she wanted. She gave me a very reasonable price, not knowing that at that moment, I would have paid a small fortune for them.

So, tickets in hand, I rushed to the new seats and frantically waved to my wife way upstairs. She arrived about 2 minutes before the start of the 4th, of which the first 2 1/2 minutes is some of the best music I've heard!

BTW, the concert hall I studied most was the dreadful New York Philharmonic Hall, the hall with the 400 lb. plaster "clouds" installed for a little sound diffusion and more early reflections--before it was discovered that early reflections must come from the sides, not overhead, to please the ears/brain. This was shortly before Avery Fisher donated a few million $ to redo the interior, which Cyril Harris proceeded to do.

[Zevy]

I don't think something like "the best" performance/recording of a work exists,
but my preferred reading of Beethoven 5 is Carlos Kleiber's mid1970s rendition of the work on DGG.

Ditto, Roehre. I would pick that disc as my "Desert Island" 5th. The flip side (7th) is no slouch, either.

[Chris]

Kleiber's 4th is one of my favorites too.

[Roehre]

Kleiber's 4th is one of my favorites too.

Chris, I do think you mean Brahms' 4th, an important and impressive recording indeed.

Btw; On Orfeo (IIRC) there exists a recording of the Pastoral by Carlos Kleiber.
Though the performance is very good, the recording is rather disastrous, as for the best part it stems from a cassette tape from the live broadcast, as the original professional tape had deteriorated beyond repair.

[Chris]

Chris, I do think you mean Brahms' 4th, an important and impressive recording indeed.

No, actually I meant Beethoven's 4th conducted by Kleiber. Sorry for the confusion!

[Roehre]

No, actually I meant Beethoven's 4th conducted by Kleiber. Sorry for the confusion!

That one has escaped my attention.
On which label?

[Michael]

It's CD #SMK63079, when he conducted the NY Philharmonic at the original dreadful NY hall (see next post). However, I've heard a little of his performance when he conducted the Vienna Philharmonic (on my crummy-sounding computer's built-in speakers), and the tempo, etc. sounded very similar.

I need to get a CD or DVD of that performance.

I would love, as I'm sure so many others here would, to be able to travel back in time to Dec. 22, 1808 and hear Beethoven conduct it the first time. I'd be sure to wear a lot of warm clothes!

Welcome to the forum, Milanodan. Delighted to see that your first choice of Fifths would be Bernstein and the NY Phil because that is mine as well. In fact, if I had to choose a complete set of the symphonies it would be Bernstein's.

(BTW, great story about that concert!)




.

[Chris]

That one has escaped my attention.
On which label?

Orfeo D'or. It is a live recording. It is also on a Philips DVD along with the 7th, and I think this is the better version, though you would have to extract the audio if you just want to listen to it.