Valery Gergiev, London Symphony Orchestra - Mahler: Symphony No 7 (2008) [SACD]

The 7th is often regarded as Mahler’s ‘Cinderella’ symphony &, after the tragic theme of the 6th, proves far more enigmatic. The funereal march of the opening movement gives way to the serene Nachtmusik (night music) movements, & a ghostly scherzo before culminating in a feverishly joyful finale.

AllMusic review by Blair Sanderson:
Few conductors turn in tightly controlled & coherent renditions of Gustav Mahler’s sprawling Symphony No. 7 in E minor, ‘Song of the Night,’ & it often comes across either as a jumble of ironic distortions or as a strange riddle that needs to be deciphered. It would hardly seem as direct & powerful as its predecessor, the Symphony No. 6 in A minor, ‘Tragic,’ which most conductors take at face value & frequently bring off with satisfactory results. Following his stunning 2008 success with his LSO Live recording of the Symphony No. 6 (1 of the finest that work has ever received), Valery Gergiev presents the Symphony No. 7 in an equally convincing manner & avoids the unnecessary exaggerations that can make this work seem bizarre or incomprehensible. Gergiev is a straightforward interpreter, & he treats the symphony as any other big-hearted, post-Romantic masterpiece, not as a special case full of esoteric secrets, but as inventive & exciting music brilliantly laid out in an intelligible 5-movement form. Taken boldly & played with steady energy, Gergiev & the London Symphony Orchestra make the piece hold together quite solidly, & the progression from the brooding opening through the nocturnal middle movements to the exuberant finale makes sense in symphonic terms. Recorded with crystal-clear DSD sound & presented in the super audio format, the recording is vividly detailed & surprisingly clean for being live, & the sonorities of the orchestra are absolutely true. Along with Gergiev’s spectacular performance of the Symphony No. 6, this SACD is highly recommended as 1 of the best releases of 2008.