The Fifth always was a standout among Herbert von Karajan’s Beethoven performances, and this 1962 recording is the best of the three he made for Deutsche Grammophon. The SACD remastering offers newly unfettered sound, which enhances the impact of Karajan’s swift tempos, driving energy, and sharp dynamic contrasts. Thanks to this, and to the Berlin Philharmonic’s powerfully assured playing, the first movement is a tour-de-force of coiled tension. However, the finale doesn’t succeed in releasing the tension as it should due to a certain slickness in Karajan’s phrasing and to his usual overabundant strings (and slightly congested sonics) that wash over much of the woodwind detail. (Listen to Karl Böhm’s recently reissued 1953 Berlin recording for richer, more differentiated orchestral sonorities.)
Karajan displayed no special love for Beethoven’s “Pastoral”, and as time went on his performances became increasingly detached and desiccated. Happily this 1962 recording retains some semblance of warmth and humanity, even if the fast tempos betray a certain impatience on the part of the conductor (especially in the Scene by the Brook–no relaxed euphoria here). Actually Karajan seems to have his eye on the work’s baroque antecedents, as his reading often sounds more like Vivaldi–the first movement for sure, but also the Storm, whose energy and thunderous timpani are well captured by DG’s engineers. Ultimately, listeners who want a great Sixth should turn to Szell, Böhm, Bernstein, and Barenboim, among others. Karajan’s is best appreciated by his devotees.
