Wiener Symphoniker, Jascha Horenstein - Mahler: Symphonie Nr.9 (2014)

Conductor Jascha Horenstein has long been regarded as one of the finest exponents of the music of Gustav Mahler. His 1952 studio recording of the Ninth Symphony was the first such recording to be commercially released (the 1938 Walter was partly or entirely live; a 1950 studio effort by Scherchen only appeared long after it was recorded). A small handful of other recordings, made between the mid-1950s and the late sixties and generally live, have appeared over the years, but never this particular rendition from the Vienna Festival of 1960 which, over three weeks, celebrated Mahler's centenary. The conductor's cousin, Misha Horenstein, who has once again generously supplied the source recording for this release, writes eloquently on the background to this performance on our website (see above).

Technically the remastering proved trickier than first hearing suggested it might. Although there were no major or obvious flaws beyond one or two instances of tape dropout, microphone positioning, coupled with a mono sound, made for a somewhat uncomfortable listen during louder passages, with a mid-range stridence in the upper strings that took some effort to tame without sacrificing the direct energy and vivacity of the central movements.

This is a mono recording, but the aforementioned issues aside, it's now a very good one - especially given Pristine's Ambient Stereo treatment, which I strongly recommend here. The orchestral sound is especially clear, full, direct and vivid.

Happily the audience generally saved their coughing, shuffling and throat-clearing for lengthy gaps between movements which, in order to fit the music to CD duration, have been edited down significantly. The result is one of the great Ninth performances, offered for the first time, and in superb sound quality.