1. Symphony No. 9 "Choral" - Ludwig Van Beethoven
- This is the Symphony that moved me and awed me the most, it was one of the first symphonies I heard, along with Mozart's 40th. Beethoven's 9th was the one that made me say to myself, "This is truly something special". It has and always will be my favorite, forget all the people who say otherwise solely because it's overplayed or the "cliched" choice. It is what it is. Get over it.
- Preferred Recordings: I'm an unabashed completist when it comes to the 9th, I own Karajan's 1963 Beethoven Cycle with the Berliner Philharmoniker, it remains for me my favorite version of the 9th, it's not too slow and it's not at breakneck speeds like some of the historically-informed conductors. For my complete thought's on Karajan 1963 9th, I dedicated an entire post to it.
2. Symphony No. 5 - Ludwig Van Beethoven - Another not surprising choice, the "da-da-da-DAAAA" is universally known and overdone in parody, movies, commercials, etc. What's sad is most people will only know the short-short-short-long and none of the remaining 25 minutes or so of symphonic perfection. The first movement is epic, all of it, not just the first notes. The second movements is lyrical and triumphant, the third is a great callback to Mozart and the final movement is pure triumphant joy.
- Preferred Recordings: I have to choose the universally praised Carlos Kleiber's 5th from Deutsche Grammophone and I have to agree with its praise, it's rightly the favorite of many including myself. Karajan's 1963 version is also highly recommended, it's tied with Kleiber's in my book. If you like period-instrument, fast tempos, then go for John Eliot Gardiner's Carnegie Hall live performance. I highly recommend it as well, there's an incredibly raw energy in Gardiner's performance.
3. Symphony No. 6 "Tragic" - Gustav Mahler - I'm still new to Mahler, I've yet to hear all of his symphonies. I immediately connected with the symphony, it's among the most structurally tight Mahler symphonies and it's also the darkest.
- Preferred Recording: Pierre Boulez/Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra
4. Symphony No. 4 - Johannes Brahms - My absolute favorite Brahms piece, if there's one other symphony that I could call perfect other than Beethoven's 5th, it has to be Brahms' 4th. It's very tightly constructed, yet it never feels overdone, for all of its preciseness it never lacks in pure emotional power. The first movement is one of the darkly beautiful pieces of music I've ever heard, ending in an unforgettable climax. It's an innovative symphony that ironically looks to the masters of the past for inspiration, i.e., the phenomenal passacaglia 4th movement.
- Preferred Recordings: Carlos Kleiber's 4th is th best version of Brahms' 4th, bar none in my opinion. It's justly one of the best recordings of all time.
5. Symphony No. 3 "Eroica" - Ludwig Van Beethoven - What more can be said about the Eroica? It changed the symphony and classical music forever, it pretty much single-handedly ushered in the Romantic era. The 1st-2nd movements is one of the greatest duos in history, if not the greatest.
- Preferred Recordings: My favorite version is actually the historically-informed version by David Zinman and the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich, something about the fast tempos really goes well with this symphony, even the slow Funeral March, ironically. Furthermore, it's not played with period-instruments, so you get the richness of sound that comes with a modern orchestra and instruments. Also highly recommended is Karajan's 1963 version with the Berliner Philharmoniker.
After my top 5, it becomes difficult to list 6 - 10 in any kind of preferential order, so I'll just list my remaining 5 in no particular order:
- Bruckner Symphony 9
- Preferred Recording: Carlo Maria Giulini/Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra
- Mahler Symphony 2
- Preferred Recording: Otto Klemperer/Philharmonia Orchestra
- Mahler Symphony 9
- Preferred Recording: Claudio Abbado/Berliner Philharmoniker
- Mahler Symphony 4
- Preferred Recording: George Szell/Cleveland Orchestra
- Beethoven Symphony 7
- Carlos Kleiber/Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra
Honorable Mentions:
Franz Schubert - Symphony No. 8 "Unfinished", No. 9 "The Great"
Johannes Brahms - Symphonies No. 1, 2, 3
Anton Bruckner - Symphonies No. 4, 7, 8
Tchaikovsky - Symphonies 4, 5, 6
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Symphonies No. 38, 40
Antonin Dvorak - Symphony No. 9
Hector Berlioz - Symphonie Fantastique
- This is the Symphony that moved me and awed me the most, it was one of the first symphonies I heard, along with Mozart's 40th. Beethoven's 9th was the one that made me say to myself, "This is truly something special". It has and always will be my favorite, forget all the people who say otherwise solely because it's overplayed or the "cliched" choice. It is what it is. Get over it.
- Preferred Recordings: I'm an unabashed completist when it comes to the 9th, I own Karajan's 1963 Beethoven Cycle with the Berliner Philharmoniker, it remains for me my favorite version of the 9th, it's not too slow and it's not at breakneck speeds like some of the historically-informed conductors. For my complete thought's on Karajan 1963 9th, I dedicated an entire post to it.
2. Symphony No. 5 - Ludwig Van Beethoven - Another not surprising choice, the "da-da-da-DAAAA" is universally known and overdone in parody, movies, commercials, etc. What's sad is most people will only know the short-short-short-long and none of the remaining 25 minutes or so of symphonic perfection. The first movement is epic, all of it, not just the first notes. The second movements is lyrical and triumphant, the third is a great callback to Mozart and the final movement is pure triumphant joy.
- Preferred Recordings: I have to choose the universally praised Carlos Kleiber's 5th from Deutsche Grammophone and I have to agree with its praise, it's rightly the favorite of many including myself. Karajan's 1963 version is also highly recommended, it's tied with Kleiber's in my book. If you like period-instrument, fast tempos, then go for John Eliot Gardiner's Carnegie Hall live performance. I highly recommend it as well, there's an incredibly raw energy in Gardiner's performance.
3. Symphony No. 6 "Tragic" - Gustav Mahler - I'm still new to Mahler, I've yet to hear all of his symphonies. I immediately connected with the symphony, it's among the most structurally tight Mahler symphonies and it's also the darkest.
- Preferred Recording: Pierre Boulez/Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra
4. Symphony No. 4 - Johannes Brahms - My absolute favorite Brahms piece, if there's one other symphony that I could call perfect other than Beethoven's 5th, it has to be Brahms' 4th. It's very tightly constructed, yet it never feels overdone, for all of its preciseness it never lacks in pure emotional power. The first movement is one of the darkly beautiful pieces of music I've ever heard, ending in an unforgettable climax. It's an innovative symphony that ironically looks to the masters of the past for inspiration, i.e., the phenomenal passacaglia 4th movement.
- Preferred Recordings: Carlos Kleiber's 4th is th best version of Brahms' 4th, bar none in my opinion. It's justly one of the best recordings of all time.
5. Symphony No. 3 "Eroica" - Ludwig Van Beethoven - What more can be said about the Eroica? It changed the symphony and classical music forever, it pretty much single-handedly ushered in the Romantic era. The 1st-2nd movements is one of the greatest duos in history, if not the greatest.
- Preferred Recordings: My favorite version is actually the historically-informed version by David Zinman and the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich, something about the fast tempos really goes well with this symphony, even the slow Funeral March, ironically. Furthermore, it's not played with period-instruments, so you get the richness of sound that comes with a modern orchestra and instruments. Also highly recommended is Karajan's 1963 version with the Berliner Philharmoniker.
After my top 5, it becomes difficult to list 6 - 10 in any kind of preferential order, so I'll just list my remaining 5 in no particular order:
- Bruckner Symphony 9
- Preferred Recording: Carlo Maria Giulini/Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra
- Mahler Symphony 2
- Preferred Recording: Otto Klemperer/Philharmonia Orchestra
- Mahler Symphony 9
- Preferred Recording: Claudio Abbado/Berliner Philharmoniker
- Mahler Symphony 4
- Preferred Recording: George Szell/Cleveland Orchestra
- Beethoven Symphony 7
- Carlos Kleiber/Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra
Honorable Mentions:
Franz Schubert - Symphony No. 8 "Unfinished", No. 9 "The Great"
Johannes Brahms - Symphonies No. 1, 2, 3
Anton Bruckner - Symphonies No. 4, 7, 8
Tchaikovsky - Symphonies 4, 5, 6
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Symphonies No. 38, 40
Antonin Dvorak - Symphony No. 9
Hector Berlioz - Symphonie Fantastique