Beethoven Symphonies - best perf + sonics on CD

Goofyfoot, Its been a long time. My memory is good, but--- I can't swear to any of this. What I remember having heard at the time would be in agreement with your "necessary evil" scenario. What I remember is that once construction of the Berliner Philharmonie was complete, there was an enormous amount of pressure applied to the Philharmoniker to shift recordings to that venue. I don't know who was applying the pressure. The facility was completed in 1963. This change in venue was not something DG desired, as I recall.
I suppose referring to early digital as a necessary evil is as apt a description as any.
I do think that excellent recordings can be made in most venues today, provided that you have a recording company that wants to make the effort. I'm not sure I can think of one decent recording in my collection made in the Barbican, so I think there is a limit to what competent engineering can overcome. I'd love to here a new recording made of the Clevelanders in the old Masonic Auditorium. Some of those were pretty special (at least to me).
Your point regarding viable economics is apt. The money has to work, unless you are fortunate enough to have someone underwrite.

Goofyfoot, I think the later and current DG CDs are excellent quality and the Berliner Philharmonie concert hall clearly has good sonics.
I do know that during the mid 70s to mid 80s, Bernstein
(in Vienna) and Karajan were making very different demands on the DG engineers and the result in both cases were recordings resulting in a different sound compared to other DG recordings. So I don't know what to make of that.
As far as DG moving into digital, you make a very compelling case. What is very interesting to me is that Philips and Teldec (Decca + Telefunken) their German competitors made far superior recordings.

Thanks to both responses. I remember when visiting Berlin, hearing negative comments concerning the venue changes for the Philharmoniker, however this alone should not have influenced DG to the degree that their quality had declined. The Teldec recordings are my favorite from the larger companies as there is a definite aesthetic that speaks of integrity to the finest detail. I'm still fond of the Harnoncourt Mozart recording on Teldec. But as I said earlier, sometimes it comes down to who's on the board of directors.
Thanks

Regarding the 80's digital DG Karajan set--I'm curious to know if any of you find them tolerable on today's less harsh-sounding machines. I know I found them hard to listen to back when they came out, but much better-sounding now.

Tostadosunidos, good question. The Box set was remastered and the result was the Karajan Gold set. All 9 symphonies released as separates. Although slightly bright, they lack the harshness of early DG digital. With my tube CDP, they sound open, well balanced and with first rate performances. Karajan is in top form IMO.
I think with a good CD or DAC they are worth buying, in fact, I play them often.