Karl Böhm, Konzertvereinigung Wiener Staatsopernchor & Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra - Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 "Choral" (1981)

Generally, this is a good recording with the Vienna Philharmonic under Böhm, with his usual elegant flair which was suitably enhanced by the excellent line up of soloists. However, the main drawback to this recording is the unusually slow tempo Böhm set, and adhered to rigidly throughout (the performance is 79 minutes long). This reduces the dramatic effect, in particular the "Turkish march" in the final movement. I would therefore describe this as a relaxing (but by no means dull) recording, which has little in common with more powerful performances (e.g. Toscanini's 1952 recording). Despite this, I found this Ninth to be enjoyable, and rather more attractively priced than other digital recordings from the early 1980s.