Jeffrey Hall wrote:

>Dear CM fans, In regards to Beethoven 5th symphony, how does the famous
>Carlos Kleiber recording compare to the 1977 von Karajan recording? I've
>seen both recommended and both are supposed to be hard-driven.

I would describe Kleiber's VPO reading as "urgent" and find it far
preferable to Karajan '77. Karajan falls on the "classical" side and is
actually not too far from the norm.  Kleiber's is more exciting and includes
the repeats in both outer movements.

For a really hard driven 5th, try Kleiber's Chicago Symphony recording (on
the Exclusive "pirate" label).  This is Kleiber at the extreme end of
hard-drivenness.  The CD also has a quite speedy Schubert 3rd with the CSO
that is even faster than his studio recording.

Ramon Khalona
Carlsbad, California