Symphony No. 9 in D minor 'Choral'

Ludwig van Beethoven

Recordings

Top Choice

Ferenc Fricsay / Berlin Philharmonic

1958

Gil's top choice. He says it 'just checks all the boxes in terms of drama, excitement, spirituality, great playing, great singing.'

Also Worth Hearing

Herbert von Karajan / Berlin Philharmonic

1976

Gil prefers this to the 1960s version, finding it 'more loose and more dramatic.' He praises the 'big sound, the lush sound,' but notes the choir sounds 'small' and 'recessed.'

Leonard Bernstein / Vienna Philharmonic

1979

A 'great one, especially for Bernstein's sense of spirituality.' The drama 'builds slowly,' and he praises the 'fantastic' singing, especially the choir.

Karl Böhm / Vienna Philharmonic

c. 1970s

From his strongest cycle, 'a great ninth.' It's 'powerful, strong, beautiful playing, beautiful singing.' The one caveat is a 'much slower tempo for the march' in the fourth movement.

Georg Solti / Chicago Symphony

1972

A 'good central recommendation.' It's 'very sharp, very incisive, dramatic, but not idiosyncratic at all.' He praises the 'disciplined, very strong' chorus.

Hans Schmidt-Isserstedt / Vienna Philharmonic

1965

An 'under-the-radar' but 'very solid... very spiritual ninth.' It has a 'fantastic quartet of singers' (Sutherland, Horne, King, Talvela) and 'sumptuous, very beautiful' recording.

Sir Charles Mackerras / Royal Liverpool Philharmonic

1991

Features faster tempos, even in the adagio, making it 'very exciting, very energetic.' Gil praises Bryn Terfel's solo but finds the choir has a 'white sound.'

John Eliot Gardiner / Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique

early 90s Period performance

A period performance with an 'excellent' choir. Gil finds it 'very impressive' and notes the fast tempos 'challenge his instruments to their limits.'

Otto Klemperer / Philharmonia

1961 Live recording

Gil prefers this live version to the 'a little lacking in energy' studio recording. This one has 'massive power and strength and relentlessness' and a 'sense of occasion.'

Wilhelm Furtwängler / Bayreuth Festival Orchestra

1951 Live recording

The 'most familiar' of Furtwängler's 9ths. A 'fantastic performance' with a 'sense of occasion.' Gil praises its 'wonderful interpretation... drama, the emotion, the spirituality.'

Wilhelm Furtwängler / Philharmonia

1954 Live recording, Lucerne

Furtwängler's 'best recorded 9th by far.' It has 'all the hallmarks,' but Gil finds it 'maybe just a little bit more lacking in intensity' compared to the Bayreuth one.

Wilhelm Furtwängler / Berlin Philharmonic

March 22, 1942 Live recording

Gil's 'desert island... Beethoven 9th.' He calls it 'the most dramatic and intense performance... I've ever heard.' Despite 'muddy' sound, he says the orchestra was 'in this zone... just possessed.'