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Review by mwgfrg December 20, 2011 (10 of 10 found this review helpful)
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Performance:  Sonics:  |
| This is one of the great stereo Mahler 9ths of the '60s-'80s, the oldest--almost 50 years--except for the Walter, and the first of them to make it to SACD. Barbirolli sees the symphony as a huge arc, as a Romantic symphony wearing modern clothes. To my ears, there is none of the push-pull, exaggerated (more or less) emphasis so many other recordings, even other great recordings, adopt with varying degrees of success. I don't think I have ever read or heard anyone say that any movement of this recording is too anything. The recording was always excellent for early stereo. No other RBCD transfer of this performance comes close. I have not heard the original three-sided HMV release, but I have the mid-70s three record combined release with the Mahler 6th, and a late 70s three-sided German Electrola. To my ears the SACDs compare very favorably, without quite matching, the British LPs, but here the German release seems the one with the clearest overall sound picture and widest dynamics. The HMV originals go for a fortune, the second generation for a significant amount, and I haven't seen any sign of the Electrola set in years. This is my choice, by a significant margin, of the Mahler 9ths available in SACD.
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