This new release of Mahler’s profoundest symphony is a live recording with all the detailed eloquence and intensity one might expect from Simon Rattle in concert. Yet it also suggests a maturing in his approach, an interpretive longersightedness, in which Mahler’s huge movements are unfolded as wholes rather than as sequences of apocalyptic moments.

There have been some great recordings of Mahler’s Ninth over the years...but Rattle’s latest leaps indubitably to the top of the pile. He tones down the music’s aggressiveness, overwrought passion, and at times the brutality. Every line is shaped with warmth, tenderness, and loving care without sacrificing urgency…Rattle is finely tuned to the myriad details of the score without ever sounding fussy or pedantic.

There’s a spontaneity and immediacy about this Mahler Ninth that feels like it’s not for repetition.