Work: Symphony No 1
Composed: 1884-88
Performed by: New York Philharmonic Orchestra, Dmitri Mitropoulos
Label: Archipel Records ARPCD0326
Always a viscerally exciting maestro, in this live 1940 recording the Greek powerhouse has you on the edge of your seats with his daring energy.
Work: Symphony No 2
Composed: 1888-94
Performed by: Yvonne Kenny, Jard Van Nes, London Philharmonic Choir, Klaus Tennstedt
Label: LPO LPO0044
One of the three greatest Mahler conductors of all time, Klaus Tennstedt is always more transcendent live than in the studio and nowhere more obviously so than here.
Work: Symphony No 3
Composed: 1896
Performed by: Anne Sofie von Otter, Wiener Philharmoniker, Wiener Sängerknaben, Women Chorus of Singverein der Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde, Pierre Boulez
Label: DG 4740382
His lean, observed Mahler may not be to everyone’s taste but here Pierre Boulez is revelatory and helped by possibly the greatest sonic Mahler recording ever.
Work: Symphony No 5
Composed: 1902
Performed by: Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra of New York, Bruno Walter
Label: Naxos 8110896
Mahler’s apprentice always brings a special air of authenticity to the master and his recording of the Fifth is as near what you feel Mahler would have expected as it is possible to get.
Work: Symphony No 9
Composed: 1909-10
Performed by: Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Claudio Abbado
Label: DG 4716242
Claudio Abbado was always a great Mahlerian but the late recordings, as the maestro faced his own end, have a unique depth and sense of empathy with the composer.
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