Beethoven Symphonies - best perf + sonics on CD

Thanks Goofyfoot...understood. i am not so sophisticated that i would necessarily dissect every Beethoven interpretation...but i do notice the differences in scale. And having both Furtwangler and von Karajan...i thought a smaller ensemble would be cool. In particular, Gardiner was supposedly done with smaller orchestra and quite good. Have you heard it?

Hi Loydelee, I know that I've heard it but I don't own it. Which label is it on, etc..and I'll see if I can pick it up. I know that I liked it when I heard it.
Back when I took music theory I would always choose Beethoven scores to analyze and identify because they covered everything and were structurally perfect. Maybe for that reason it is rather easy for me to remember and sing Beethoven passages which makes it all the more fun. I don't however subscribe to the notion that understanding music is necessary in order to enjoy it but it helps and I fiercely oppose any type of anti-intellectualism with scorn.
Deciding to listen to something different from what one is used to certainly makes sense to me because I believe that change catalyzes artistic growth. After all Beethoven changed the face of Western music forever and it seems natural with any Beethoven interpretation to keep a foot in the past and to realize the scope of his vision. The idea of a smaller Beethoven period orchestra seems like a natural extension of what's previously been done.

Thanks Goofyfoot! i think its Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique and John Eliot Gardiner...on DG. Archiv.

Hi Lloydelee. My understanding is HIP is historically informed performance, which more often than not uses instruments that the composer had access to rather than modern ones. It can also refer to score modifications based on recent scholarship.

And this approach uusually involves smaller forces than modern interpretations.

Hi Goofyfoot. Your point of familiarity is certain well-taken. But in the end, it is my response to any given performance that holds sway.

As an example, I recently acquired Enoch zu Guttenberg's Mozart Requiem. He uses much smaller forces than other conductors, e.g. HvK, Bernstein, Richter. The SQ is astounding, with great clarity and space around the singers and musicians, but in the end I wished his orchestra and chorus were larger.