It’s fair to say Osmo Vänskä’s Mahler Symphony cycle with the Minnesota Orchestra has met with something of a mixed reception. Critics have variously warmed to the painterly precision of the Finnish-American partnership’s approach, or poured cold water on it.

The Third is perhaps the most easily digestible of all Mahler’s symphonies, at least in Vänskä’s take on it. It concludes a survey (now available as a boxset) that began with a contentious reading of the Fifth in 2015. In between there have been plaudits and put-downs and this reading of the Third, captured in the ensemble’s Orchestra Hall home in 2022, will just as likely divide opinion.

The Third is also arguably the most Wagnerian of all Mahler’s symphonies – witness its operatic leanings and length, its enhanced woodwind, brass and percussion sections, and the addition of an alto soloist (here mezzo-soprano Jennifer Johnston) augmented by women’s and boys’ choirs. Its scale, as much as its emotional scope, makes it a tall order.

Listeners familiar with the cycle will know what to expect –...