Mahler: Symphony No. 9 (rattle)

Gramophone Magazine June 2010: 250 Greatest Recordings of All Time
Violent intensity and sweetness in Rattle's Vienna Mahler Ninth/
The Oberösterreichische Nachrichten wrote of their Salzburg Festival performance, "Sir Simon Rattle has once again demonstrated his great affinity for this music and his ability to recreate it in the most thrilling fashion. (...) It is hardly possible to imagine a realisation of this music at once more moving and more menacing. The finale was heavenly, with the Berliners pulling out all the stops. Outstanding solo playing, subtly savoured colours, saturated and warmly sonorous chords and a pianissimo that died away into utter oblivion – all these contributed to making this a sensational concert."
Reviewing their performance of Mahler's Symphony No. 9 at Carnegie Hall in November, The New York Times said, "Mr. Rattle drew an incisive and impassioned performance of this touchstone Mahler work... [He] conveyed the funereal gravity of the first movement, yet made the most of every rhapsodic turn and vehement outburst. The second movement had the galumphing gait of a Ländler, an Austrian dance that as parodied by Mahler, sounds both wistful and bitter. Mr. Rattle brought frenzied energy to the disturbing Rondo-Burlesque, which made the glowing account of the poignant final Adagio more affecting."
Sir Simon has built a reputation as a distinguished Mahler interpreter through his vast Mahler back-catalogue on EMI Classics: He began recording the Mahler symphonies for EMI in 1987, starting with Symphony No. 2, with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. He subsequently recorded Symphonies Nos. 2-4 and 6-8 with the CBSO. He recorded Symphony No. 9 with the Wiener Philharmoniker in 1993. His recordings of Symphonies Nos. 5 and 10 with the Berliner Philharmoniker have received great critical acclaim and have been best-sellers.

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