Mahler: Symphony No. 9 in D major

“It wins a special place among many fine Mahler Symphony No. 9 recordings with its unflinching clarity and general spciousness...That may have something to do with the unflappable demeanour of the LA Phil; these top American players rarely get in a lather.” BBC Music Magazine, June 2013 ****

“Dudamel live in 2012 coaxes polished, full-throated playing in every department, brass strong and sure, strings positively luscious, woodwind responsive to every italicising demand...Many will appreciate Dudamel's boisterous engagement notwithstanding a tendency to pass over the longer line and with it Mahler's sense of foreboding” Gramophone Magazine, May 2013

“Dudamel's tempos are excellently judged as a basis and the orchestral playing at times approaches the superlative level...Time and again, throughout Dudamel's performance, one is impressed by the sheer musicianship and commitment of the playing” International Record Review, May 2013

“Dudamel lovingly shapes this vast landscape, bringing to it an affirming view. He keeps everything moving along nicely, at least until those moments of the finale when all energies ebb away and we are left with those halting, bare lines.” Sunday Times, 24th February 2013

“This new, live, Mahler 9 sounds impressive – microphones are closely placed and you really feel in the thick of things...Each precipitous climax is paced with mature skill, the tension cannily ratcheted up...It’s really, really good, and Mahler anoraks will fondly recall Giulini’s similarly broad 1970s recording.” The Arts Desk, 16th March 2013

“Although “the Dude” can be stilted in the first two movements, there are many compensations: gorgeous textures, powerfully rhetorical gestures and superb clarity. In the ethereal finale he doesn’t reach the heights of Abbado or Haitink, but if you want a young man’s view of mortality, this can’t be bettered.” The Times, 23rd February 2013 ****

“[Haitink] shows no sign of weakening his grip on the seemingly effortless long-term vision which has always been a hallmark of his masterly conducting. There are no surprises here other than in the Finale...Solo work is superb throughout, especially so from the first horn, and a live recording which captures barely a shuffle from the audience...a palpable front-runner.” BBC Music Magazine, Christmas 2012 ****

“the way Haitink negotiates the first movement's troubled course displays an unflinching grasp of where and when the climaxes should hit hardest...Between the outer movements' polar extremes Haitink manages vivid reportage of the Landler's ribald humour...This is unquestionably one of the great Ninths of recent years” Gramophone Magazine, October 2012

“there's a feeling of urgency about this new performance that I don't remember in Haitink's Mahler before, as if he is now almost impatient with the Ninth's resigned acceptance of mortality. There's an angularity about the woodwind lines and a rawness to the textures from what is one of Europe's finest orchestras that seems to expose the music's nerve ends; it's not always comfortable listening, but it is sometimes startling.” The Guardian, 26th July 2012 ***

“Barbirolli brings out the grotesque brilliance of the second movement beautifully, is entirely at home in the clattering uproar of the Rondo-Burleske, and digs deep into the emotion of the music in the final heart-rending Adagio. All in all, this is an extremely fine issue of the Mahler Ninth.” Gramophone Magazine

“despite typically swift speeds, there's none of the haste that some have disliked in Gergiev's Mahler. Interpretatively, however, you will either love or loathe it. It's an unusually panicky account of a work generally considered to be about mortality and resignation...The inner movements bristle with existential alarm, and the exhausted collapse at the height of the Rondo Burleske is particularly well done.” The Guardian, 8th September 2011 ***

“Gergiev paces and balances [the opening's] unfolding finely, from halting start via macabre climax to nostalgic fade-out. The ensuing Landler movement duly comes as a shock as Mahler doubtless intended...The sardonic contrapuntal capers of the Rondo Burleske third movement are also played for force here...Thereafter, the reading comes back into focus, with the climax passionately delivered and an unfailing concentration in those infinitely drawn-out dying bars.” BBC Music Magazine, November 2011 ***

“The LSO's lustrous, ultra-secure paying reaches astonishing virtuoso heights in the 'Rondo Burleske' Scherzo. And Gergiev unfolds Mahler's huge four-movement structure with masterly grip and command...If you like your Mahler to be a sumptuous feast of sound, look no further. If you want to be taken to the music's expressive heart, look elsewhere.” Classic FM Magazine, November 2011 ***

“His conception remains pushy, extrovert and darkly opaque, the horns glowering menacingly even in moments of repose...The band displays both its corporate dexterity and its famous ability to play very loudly indeed. Surface detail is tangibly immediate, the vivid yet shallow sound stage reinforcing the impression that we are listening to a brilliant concerto for orchestra...such an interpretation will have its admirers - never boring, half-hearted or indecisive” Gramophone Magazine, November 2011

“This is a mind-blowing experience - a Mahler Ninth as great as any I've heard...There are no idiosyncracies in Abbado's approach, but instead there is an unerring sense of musical trajectory...the playing has a richness and expressive depth all the more telling for Abbado's wonderful sense of flexibility - really letting his orchestra play - and the vibrant transparency of the sound..the playing has an eloquence, intensity and utter beauty is simply overwhelming” International Record Review, April 2011

“This captures much of the peerless tone-colour, shape, drive and above all those hushed dynamics of [the] performance, awarded what feels like an infinite silence at the end...Abbado's pacing is unrivalled...the mixture of close-ups and wide shots in the final rituals is superb as ever from this team. Finest concert DVD ever? I think so.” BBC Music Magazine, June 2011 *****

“This, his first commercial recording of the work, is even more luminous, elegant and subtly integrated than its predecessors...An interpretation that might seem too cool is in fact superbly gauged to provide maximal catharsis by the close...When the music finally ends and, as in any truly great account of this highly affecting score, one feels that life itself is ebbing away, all present are held in awed silence.” Gramophone Magazine, June 2011

“This really is something special, and one of the few classical orchestral DVDs which I’ve watched repeatedly. Abbado’s performance is remarkable. It’s not just the pin-sharp orchestral playing from the hand-picked orchestra, but the effortless ease with which this piece unfurls.” The Arts Desk, 14th December 2011

“it is fascinating to set aside sensationalism in favour of re-evaluation and to hear this remarkable piece stripped, as it were, of its veneer and laid bare before us in all its unsettling majesty and humility...Refresh your ears and your perceptions and prepare to be surprised again.” Gramophone Magazine, May 2010

“This vivid live recording is a total vindication of Roger Norrington's belief that orchestral string sound acquires power and eloquence when played without any vibrato...it is especially in the last movement that Norrington's momentum and the pure, clear sound of the strings come together” The Observer, 13th June 2010

“quite an emotional experience” Penguin Guide, 2011 edition