When Carlos Kleiber ascended the podium in 1975 to conduct Beethovens fifth with the Wiener Philharmonics, he was determined to blow everyone else who had dared to take on this monster before him, and possibly after also, out of the water. It seems that the ferocity with which he makes a head on attack of the old masterpiece and literally takes command of it, is the work of a slightly mad but incredibly engaged musical mind.
It is incredibly powerfully performed, one can almost sense the streams of sweat dribling down the director and the orchestras faces of sheer energy consumption. Many recordings of this and other symphonies of Beethovens have been too dragging or down tempoed for my taste. Or they have been too bombastic without enough nerve and passion (Karajan). This here interpretation is a tour de force of fiery passion and pure engaging energy.
Particularly the first and the fourth movements distance themselves from the compettion. Every single element seems to be spaced correctly, with the right power and tempo. It would be unfair to other conductors to say that the feeling and interpretation is among the best, but this is not the point here. I believe Kleiber touches some of old Beets spirit here, and taps into his unique genius, in the same manner it originally was premiered in Vienna 170 years before.
In 1975 the pressing quality of Deutsche Grammophon was sinking quickly, but luckily this one does not suck quite as much in the recording quality department as one could fear. It is certainly not on par with the early sixties collectibles, but it is decent enough to be engaging.