Karajan v. Gardiner

entanglement

entanglement

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Jan 30, 2006
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I'm planning on getting a boxed version of Beethoven's 9 symphonies. I have these options to pick from recommended by a friend of mine.

  • Herbert von Karajan (Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra) [.]
  • John Eliot Gardiner (Orchestre Revolutionnaire et Romantique) [.]

I'm relatively more on the discoverer shade of the spectrum as far as classical music is considered. Please help me pick, or suggest some other release? :)
 
Herbert von Karajan. All his recordings are fantastic, cannot go wrong with anything he's conducted.

Iw ould add there should be nothing wrong with Gardiner's interpretations of the 9 symphonies. But I have not heard them, so I couldn't really tell you if they were any better than Karajan's.
 
i haven't heard the gardiner recording, but i have the 1963 karajan recording which is a little different from the 1975-77 cycle that you say you might be getting. the 1963 cycle is commonly thought to be karajan's best. you might want to consider that one as well.
 
Karajan and JE Gardner come from two very different schools of interpretation. The 1963 Karajan set is a classic and the Ninth from that set remains my favorite recording of that great symphony. Gardiner was a pioneer, along with the Academy of Ancient Music's Christopher Hogwood, of performing the music on the instruments of the day and using what he would call more authentic tempos. As a result, the Gardiner set sounds very different from the Karajan but I like it very much. The sound is leaner and the tempos are quicker, but the performances are first rate. If you can afford it I would get both.
 
If you ever want to get the complete Mozart symponies, I would recommend getting the recording by the Academy of Ancient Music under Christopher Hogwood. The recording is made on authetic instruments and even though there are other recordings of the works (especially the better known ones, eg. 25th, 40th etc.) which I would prefer over the ones here, they hold up really well. The whole set includes some minor works in addition to the 41 symphonies and consists of 19 cds. $150 is a very good price for it, I think.
 
Thanks guys. I'm going for Karajan's version for now, although I'll look into Gardiner's samples (if I can find any) after I've given Karajan's interpretation a listen (when I get it, that is).

derbeder ~ I already have Mozart's Piano Concertos by Gardiner. Its one of the reasons I was giving Gardiner a consideration for the symphonies.
 
derbeder said:
If you ever want to get the complete Mozart symponies, I would recommend getting the recording by the Academy of Ancient Music under Christopher Hogwood. The recording is made on authetic instruments and even though there are other recordings of the works (especially the better known ones, eg. 25th, 40th etc.) which I would prefer over the ones here, they hold up really well. The whole set includes some minor works in addition to the 41 symphonies and consists of 19 cds. $150 is a very good price for it, I think.
Click to expand...

agreed. Hogwood's is a great set, as his recording of the Mozart Requiem.
 
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