Search - Mahler, Ludwig, Lso :: Symphony 9

Despite a high level of hiss, Everest's transfer from the original 35mm magnetic film makes this 1960 recording sound as if it were yesterday's vintage. The inner movements benefit from Ludwig's breezy extroversion, even though the conductor ignores Mahler's piu mosso directive for the Ländler movement's second subject. Ludwig conveys the grandeur of the massive outer movements in a straightforward manner that downplays the music's tortured qualities. The London Symphony Orchestra plays well, notwithstanding high strings whose ensemble and intonation are sometimes frayed around the edges. All in all, this refreshingly un-neurotic Mahler 9th is a fascinating, and often convincing foil to Leonard Bernstein's ailing-heart-on-sleeve point of view. --Jed Distler