Repertoire: The BEST Schubert 'Great' Symphony in C major (No. 9)

One of the grandest and most difficult (to conduct) of all classical symphonies, Schubert's "Great" has enjoyed many, many bad recordings, but also quite a few terrific ones. Here are my recommendations for the best versions of this perennial favorite.

[HankDrake]

The Szell/Cleveland/CBS Schubert 9th is the first I ever heard, from a Great Performances cassette my dad bought for me when I was about 13. It's been a favorite for 40 years, and the Munch for about 30.

[marknewkirk]

The Furtwangler performance sounds (in a good way) like he's making it up as he goes. That's what Furtwangler was all about.

[nattyco]

When I was 15 my brother bought the Munch recording. I immediately fell in love with it and have never preferred any other since.

[cappycapuzi]

I'm so glad you recommended a Furtwaengler recording!

[alexanderrostel]

Schubert’s Ninth has always been close to my heart, but I hadn’t been aware of Munch’s recording, which completely redefined this symphony for me. I can’t thank you enough for this ear-opening experience. How could the tempi - not just in the Scherzo - be otherwise?! The energy of this performance is absolutely extraordinary! William Forsythe used the final movement for a ballet entitled ‘The Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude’. He must or should have had this recording at hand!

[madaboutvoice]

In the early seventies while studying at UT Austin I got my real classical music education listening to KMFA-fm's announcer and program director Leonard Masters. It was he who first introduced me to Schubert's 9th by playing the Szell/CO performance (the only Schubert symphony I knew then was #8), so I guess I was lucky and spoiled to hear a superlative performance and interpretation the very first time. I went on to buy the LP and it became the standard against which all other recordings of the work were measured. So nice to have it available on YT now.

[RModillo]

Toscanini did three that were wonderful. Perfect solution to tempi, especially the 1941 with Philadelphia. The Bernstein/Concertgebouw is wonderful also. Uneccentric and joyous.

[georgatwater]

I have to say, I’ve never been a fan of Schubert’s symphonies. It’s strange really. He’s such a great melodist generally and sets up very interesting contrasts in his chamber music...a true genius. Yet, I’ve always has the sense that the symphony genre was somehow “too big” for him - if that even makes sense. Anyway, I gave the Munch recording of the 9th a listen...and my goodness! It was as if I’d never heard Schubert until then. Which just goes to show how important the conductors and their readings / conceptions are. Thank you for pointing that recording out!

[Xanthe_Cat]

I remember the first time I heard this symphony, in my mid-teens, at a friend’s house – possibly one of the Karajan recordings? He had a Boosey and Hawkes pocket score and reading along I was frankly astonished that I knew nothing of it (I’d heard the Unfinished and the 5th, which get all the attention). The answer became obvious when I inspected my dad’s record collection – Bruno Walter, so dependable with the Beethoven symphonies, had recorded an absolute lacklustre dud of a Great, which was why the piece had almost never been played while I was growing up.
More than the other symphonies the conductor’s input is critical, because without them the ‘heavenly length’ (Schumann’s words) becomes a joyless, sterile desert. There are so many indifferent versions of this work!
One other fascinating textural issue in the finale after figure N is where the winds carry the descending melody from high Gs downwards. The heavy brass often obliterate everything else at fff dynamics; so on an otherwise unremarkable version conducted on a budget label by Peter Maag, having the first flute ascend to a top C at the climax (bar 1101) was revelatory, since that is where the phrases are clearly heading, but Schubert has to use the lower C as his playable compass only reaches the top B; the high C carries, where on every other version the brass blow the woodwinds away. Again I think there are plenty of examples that the work would have benefitted from Schubert being able to hear it performed to adjust balances, but we have to be grateful that the work is so perfect as it is.

[DeAudiofilosyLocos]

Szell/Cleveland is my all time favorite and I have a very rare japanese Sony copy. Mark Lifshey's playing is the best!

[andre_p]

GREAT comments Dave ! You nail exactly the pitfalls (and my own pet peeves) that so many conductors fail to avoid: the needless repeats in the scherzo, the luftpause in the ‘waltz’ theme (Gardiner makes a meal of this, as if he wanted to show the WP that he, too, could be ‘viennese’ !). About Böhm and the 9th, he recorded it in Hamburg (NDR) in 1956 and I consider it simply perfect in all respects (except modern sound of course). And yes, in that Dresden performance the massive climax in the Andante does foreshadow the crushing dissonance of Bruckner 9th’s Adagio - impossible to miss. Munch is terrifically right throughout. Other superb performances: Suitner Berlin RSO, Sinopoli Dresden and Giulini Chicago.

[joncheskin]

Listened to Munch on your recommendation, definitely a barn-burner of a performance. Seemed to me like it was played with almost reckless abandon and huge enthusiasm, just loved it.

[rwhynacht]

I bought Schubert’s 9th by Norrington when it was first released decades ago. Loved the composition, but I am blown away after borrowing the Munch BSO recording. Wow. An astounding performance.

[william-michaelcostello]

Thank you for mentioning Munch and BSO. His Beethoven 9 is also brilliant, Brahms 4 Wagner orchestral excerpts ect. He is somewhat forgotten now but I believe he will have a rival.

[dmntuba]

You gotta have both.
They are both great, and so much fun jumping between them.

[michaelmyers]

Dave: loved your timpani story! I joined a large community orchestra ( on its way to becoming professional) as ass’t 1st trumpet when I was 17 and soon took over counting bars for the section. We had the same issues. We also had a fine timpani at who was department head of astronomy at the university. Our quite fine conductor who was also a little martinet who used to ride him unnecessarily. We always hated it. I wish I would have blurted out what you said. I would have been canned.Later I stood up to him when I was the only one who could play our toughest music. I appreciate your moxie!

[therealdealblues]

Love all those mentioned. Muti in Vienna is my other go to.

[mr-wxlv]

Interesting talk this. Some people loathe this symphony, other people love it. I personally think it's a great symphony. And, especially when you think it was written by a man that was younger than Beethoven when he wrote his first..

[justinlavish]

Loved the story about your Austrian conductor buddy with the community orchestra 🤣🤣

[BariTone-vr]

My favorite is not an audio recording but a video: Sawallisch and the Vienna Philharmonic. It is so finely played - extraordinary!!