Tempos are reasonable…The posthorn solo is very refined. This is a brassy movement, and Mr Schwarz knows how to get the best out of brass instruments. The soloist and choir are good…

The last movement…is the best here…I don’t think anyone can sustain tension the way Bernstein did. He was known for slow tempos, but when almost anyone else takes things so slow they fall apart. Not so here: it works…It builds nicely…[Schwarz] lets it accumulate just beautifully, and the climaxes are really good—well prepared for. I love this music so much that I am always overjoyed to hear it well played.

Taken as a whole, this is Schwarz’s finest Mahler performance on Artek: …the Third clearly speaks to him, and through him to listeners. Also included here is a 2009 performance with the Seattle Symphony of the Adagio from Mahler’s Symphony No. 10, and this too is nicely done… This release…sheds light on the beauties of Mahler in some ways that other recordings of the Third do not. © 2012 Infodad.com Read complete review