Valery Gergiev, London Symphony Orchestra - Mahler: Symphony No 9 (2011) [SACD]

‘It is in the two central movements that Gergiev’s interpretation works best. The opening section of his Ländler is characterised with a surprisingly delicate lightness of touch, while the conductor relishes Mahler’s ‘etwas täppisch und sehr derb’ marking for the section that follows, with the strings really digging in … The whole effect is one of bracing exhilaration … this final issue together with Nos. 7 and 8 represents the best of this illuminating and stimulating Mahler cycle’.