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I onnistly can't agree. Yes, I reckon Beethoven's 9th is the symphonic masterpiece as far as the first three movements go but I usually turn it off at the fourth. I find the third movement sublime, a pinnacle for Beethoven and a good example of why students of orchestral composition should study Beethoven. And it's followed by that patchy, noisy opening to the 4th (for which musicologists have made fairly unconvincing excuses), then that drinking song, extremely tiring to sing, hard to play. Maybe as a work in its own right it's better. Karajan does a good job because he had shares in Beethoven Inc. though I prefer his mate Klemperer with this symphony. He was also a shareholder - important to have a name beginning with K.
M
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