Symphonie Nr. 6

"This live performance is generally well played ... and naturally recorded ... it must have been one hell of a concert, and Saraste is surely a Mahler conductor to watch".

"In sum, this is a rendition surprisingly easy on the ear, but one that achieves this quality without making too many expressive compromises along the way. It also fits neatly onto a single disc. You should certainly own a performance of this symphony a bit darker and more frightening (Bernstein's or Gielen's will do), but for a legitimate alternative viewpoint you will find it difficult to do better than this".

"Currentzis is not quite the iconoclast he's sometimes made out to be - it's more that he appears able to shoulder the weight of accumulated performing tradition and then, decisively, shrug it off ... If you can imagine a Mahler 6 in which the urgency and raw edge of Roger Norrington rubs up against the red-blooded glitz of Leonard Bernstein, this is it. Currentzis shapes the music in forensic detail, luxuriating in an orchestra full of wind soloists who never seem to need to breathe ... It's a constantly engaging performance that seems to encompass the whole musical world".

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"The LSO acquits itself admirably, particularly given the concert provenence of the performance ... It's good to hear this symphony played with the sort of gruff, raw vigor that suits its heroic cast so well".

"Den er en lille sensation, denne ungarske indspilning af Mahlers store, tragiske 6. symfoni ... Iván Fischer har i sit orkester et instrument i verdensklasse, og deres Mahler sitrer af nervøs og ubønhørlig energi ... Orkesterspil, fortolkningsstandard og akustik er i top, og indspilningen ... kan ikke negligeres. Den er en ny referenceindspilning".

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"Pappanos idealer om klarhed og detaljeringsgrad kommer helt fint igennem ... Den lille halvanden time i Mahlers helt særlige univers af kirkeklokker, små salmer og iltre strygere - på vej mod hele tiden nye kulminationer ... Hos Pappano og Santa Cecilia er det musik, der er umulig at dele op i meningsfyldte bidder. Alle de mange fraser og jagtende afsnit bindes sammen i heftige op-og nedture".

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"Berlinerfilharmonikerne er i topform - og det siger ikke så lidt! - i en ny optagelse med Mahlers sjette symfoni. Den markerer afslutningen på sir Simon Rattles 16 år lange virke som chefdirigent for byens berømte orkester ... Der følger en nærmest overdådigt udstyret bog med i købet ... Man frydes ikke mindst over de stærkt spillende messingblæsere - navnlig i Mahlers grandiose orkesterværker er det et kolossalt plus. Sir Rattle dirigerer stadigvæk med brændende intensitet".

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"This has to be a mountain-peak of achievement for Jukka-Pekka Saraste and the Oslo Philharmonic, surpassing even the orchestra's very fine earlier releases with Mariss Jansons".

"There's no doubt that the Munich-based orchestra is among the best in the world today ... But what lifts this up among the very best Sixth Symphony recordings is the finale - this time perfectly paced through its demanding half-hour span of march mania, baleful warnings and brief optimisms".

"Orchestral choice: Every aspect of this colossal symphony finds its proper expression in the latest instalment of Ádám Fischer's hugely impressive Dusseldorf Mahler cycle - which is not to say it's in any way a middle-of-the-road performance ... The engineering is superlative ... Very much at the top list along with the same team's Mahler Three".

"There are passages here as phenomenal and white-hot as any I've heard in the Sixth Symphony: try the whiplash return to the hurly-burly after the high-pastures idyll at the centre of the first movement, or the build-ups to the first two hammer-blows as well as the welter of their aftermaths ... The real drawback is the glassy patina over the sound".

"Currentzis gelingt es in der Tat, das Gefahrenpotenzial dieser Partitur ohne Beschönigung herauszuspielen; das Finale etwa lässt in seiner Brutalität regelrecht erschauern. Allerdings wirkt die Musik gerade in diesem Satz eher wie eine wilde Jagd als wie eine Tragödie ... Fazit: ein Einspielung, an die man sich gewöhnen muss - aber vielleicht war ja genau dies die Absicht des Dirigenten".

"I dette sit første Mahler-udspil sammen med sit orkester Music-Aeterna ... lykkes det Teodor Currentzis at genfortrylle Mahlers musik. Intet mindre. Currentzis har nemlig en særlig evne til at forstå musikken indefra, og det tilføjer denne Symfoni nr. 6, der er en af Mahlers mørkeste, og som med rette bærer tilnavnet 'Den tragiske', en dybere mening".

"Sonically, there's plenty to admire in this new recording ... In general, the conductor's tempos are well chosen, but at various moments, he lets the line go slack ... More troubling still is Eschenbach's disregard for many of the composer's carefully notated tempo adjustments ... Mahler's early Piano Quartet makes an odd companion here, but in truth is compellingly performed".

"The real payoff of live performance comes, as ever, in the final drive towards a victory that implodes. Here, the clarity of Salonen's Philharmonia strings in apocalyptic welters only enhances the excitement of the ride to the abyss. And the fact that the Philharmonia is cambating dry, unenhanced Festival Hall acoustics makes the imposingly warm sound Salonen often creates seem all the more impressive".

"This is a fine Mahler Six, but it's up against som extremely stiff competition ... Gergiev's version has the advantage over Abbado and Jansons of being short enough to fit on one disc. But that doesn't mean it's unrelentingly hard-driven, even if the phrasing can be a tad severe".

"It's a shame for the completion of Johnathan Nott's mostly superb Mahler cycle that a better line-up could'nt have been afforded".

"En veludført Mahler-plade er god at have med i bevisførelsen. Det lykkes flot, og indspilningen er meget levende. Orkestret har ikke noget specielt særpræg, men Antonio Pappano får musikerne til at yde en kraftpræstation".

"Bei seinem ersten Konzert mit den Berliner Philharmonikern 1987 setzte Simon Rattle Mahlers Sechste aufs Programm, und zu seinem Abschied als Chefdirigent dieses Orchesters erklang im Juni 2018 wiederum die 'Tragische'. Beide Konzerte sind in der luxuriös aufgemachten Box enthalten; dazu gibt es eine Blu-ray-Disc mit einem Video des Abschiedskonzerts, einer Dokumentation über Sir Simons Zeit in Berlin und einigen Extras mehr ... Der Vergleich zwischen frühem und 'spätem' Rattle ist hochinteressant ... Die frühe Interpretation vermag stärker zu faszinieren. Man spürt einerseits die Anspannung des Dirigenten, anderseits auch seinen jugendlichen Enthusiasmus für die Partitur ... Vor allem im Finale musizieren die Musiker quasi auf der Stuhlkante".

"Simon Rattle's first concert with the orchestra, in 1987, consisted og Mahler's Sixth Symphony, a work which can make you feel as if you're lying under a pile-driver: it does here. The central two movements are good, the outer two too relentlessly driven and loud, though the playing is superb".