Beethoven Ninth Symphony

Well, for once, Newbee and I hear ear to ear (;

i second Newbee's Bernstein / VPO recommendation.
there's an excellent Bernstein Beethoven cycle on SHM-CD. it's not cheap but the sonics are great & the performance IMO is as good as it gets (even better than the Vanska, Toscanini, Furtwrangler, & Karajan recordings).

don't get the Bernstein Berlin Wall live recording tho. that one sucks (pardon my language).

Detlof, LOL - at last I get my due acknowledgement from one of the gods of audio. As a broken clock is right twice a day, so can a Newbee. :-) But lets not make this a habit, too much concurrence gets boring.

Don't worry dear Newbee, we can't afford to get you bored....we need to hear you ticking....(;

I really like the Hanover Band's period accurate using Beethoven's notes for a London performance. It is radically different than any other that I have heard.The chorus is hands down the best, with a trim tone and not a huge wash of vibrato. Also much faster tempos.The period instruments finish off what I consider a great project recording.

I have not heard the John Elliott Gardner recording,but I am sure it would be excellent,because he is a choral director first and a big Symphonic director second.Very much in the English tradition.