# Best of these 3 Kleiber Recordings



## bz3 (Oct 15, 2015)

Like the title says. Also discuss how you feel about each one if it pleases you, as they are all enduringly popular renditions.


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Just from instinctual listening, I consider both the Brahms 4 and Beethoven 5 to be excellent performances.

The Beethoven 7, a bit behind those two.

If I had to choose only one, then it's Beethoven 5.

You really want to hear C. Kleiber's conducting at its greatest? Listen to his conducting of Bizet's Carmen!!!


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## Vaneyes (May 11, 2010)

LvB 5 & 7, no preference. Re Brahms 4, I like more hot mustard with, such as HvK '63 w. BPO. :tiphat:


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## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

Beethoven 5th - quite remarkable


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## Headphone Hermit (Jan 8, 2014)

Beethoven 7th - very remarkable


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## Templeton (Dec 20, 2014)

Headphone Hermit said:


> Beethoven 7th - very remarkable


Even more remarkable is that he recorded two other recordings of the 7th, with the Amsterdam Concertgebouw and the Bayerische Staatsorchester, that, to many, were even better than the VPO recording.


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## lluissineu (Dec 27, 2016)

Yes, and if someone Is interested in them, The Concertgebouw recording Is also in video:


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## TwoFlutesOneTrumpet (Aug 31, 2011)

Brahms 4 - the most remarkable.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Beethoven 7th - very, very remarkable


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## Animal the Drummer (Nov 14, 2015)

Beethoven 5 - Remarkable with a capital "R".


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## Marsilius (Jun 13, 2015)

Brahms 4 - remarkablest.


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## gHeadphone (Mar 30, 2015)

I would have gone for the Schubert 3 if available but the Brahms is sublime (though i do have a penchant for Kleiber recordings)


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Never seen a poll ( outcome for now) so close......


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## Animal the Drummer (Nov 14, 2015)

gHeadphone said:


> I would have gone for the Schubert 3 if available but the Brahms is sublime (though i do have a penchant for Kleiber recordings)


So do I, but the slow(ish) movement of Schubert 3 doesn't work for me in that performance. I find it simply too fast.


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## Bruckner Anton (Mar 10, 2016)

For me, his Beethoven 5 with VPO on DG is almost perfect, and his Beethoven 7 and Brahms 4 on DG are a little below that level (though they are also great) mainly due to his unique brisk and straight interpretation on some sections of the works. 
For example, in variations 14-15 of the final movement of Brahms 4, a section of otherworldly beauty, six bars out of each eight-bar cycle are marked with diminuendo in string parts (viola and cello), which indicates that the first bass line note of each bar should be given some weight while the wind groups are playing the serene melody quietly. In Kleiber's VPO recording, the string parts are so fast-paced and light-weighted compared with versions like Kertesz VPO, making the entire section sounds less expressive to me. Another example in the same work, in the last 5 bars of the first movement, the cadance is expanded to gain power, tension and grandeur before its final resolution. Many conductors (like Kertesz, Karajan 1980s, Abbado, and a lot of older recordings of course) use ritardando at the last two or three bars to support this purpose. But Kleiber just run through the ending quickly with little change in tempo, which may not be so convincing as other great conductors' renditions.


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

I can't unbiasedly judge these because invariably i am going to favor Beethoven and in that, the 4th.


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## Merl (Jul 28, 2016)

Beethoven 5th for me. Still a great account. I prefer a few other 7ths to his and other Brahms 4ths. All benchmark performances though.


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