Mahler: Symphony No. 9 (Live)

This is the third recording Simon Rattle has made of Mahler’s valedictory Symphony No. 9, and the best. Taped live in 2021, it benefits from the outstandingly idiomatic playing of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, whose gamut of expression runs all the way from tendrils of delicacy to full-throated emotional effusions. Wind and brass detail are spicily pointed in the dancelike second movement, while the biting rhythms in the seething third-movement “Rondo-Burleske” have a suitably sardonic flavour. The long goodbye of the 24-minute finale is full of beautiful and poignant moments, the strings in particular singing with exceptional eloquence. Excellent sound quality sets the seal on this high-class release.