Classical lp dilemma - recommendations, please

My recommedation is go buy some used vinyl and listen
for yourself. It's cheap. Buy 5 recordings of the 9th
and enjoy 'em all. You'll find your favorite, or like
me, have 2 or even 3 favorites! You can even sell back
the ones you didn't care for and buy some Mussorgsky,
Chopin or more Beethoven (yes, he did write fuer Elise)

OK - these are my favs of the 9th.
Fritz Reiner's, Chicago Symphony, RCA.
Sir Georg Solti, Chicago Symphony, London.
Herbert von Karajan, Berlin Philharmonic, Deutsche Gramaphon

sorry for the fur elise snafu. i'm terrifically embarassed. hare kare is my only alternative, isn't it?

(dramatic pause)

seriously though, thanks for the help!

Dino:) Suggets you also get Beethoven's 6th Symphony by Karl Boehm; avoid the Karajan - he sounds like he's in a hurry to get to his next appointment. However, I agree with Karajan for the 9th (the 1962 recording, not the 1977).

Wilhelm Kempff does a great job of BEETHOVEN'S Fur Elise and the sonatas. I really like the Lazar Berman recording of Pictures at an Exhibition.