Haitink and the Bavarians are compelling and deeply perceptive. Indeed this reading ranks alongside the finest. The sound is clear and well balanced and this adds to the considerable merits of this splendid release. © 2012 MusicWeb International Read complete review

Bernard Haitink, zum Zeitpunkt der Aufnahme 82 Jahre alt, beginnt die Neunte ziemlich entspannt. Doch gleichzeitig weiß er, aus langer Erfahrung und Altersweisheit schöpfend, um die Geheimnisse dieser Musik. Er weiß, wo Spannung aufgebaut werden muss, wo sie entladen wird. Er bemüht sich um Details, die anderen unwichtig erscheinen und lässt Effekte aus, die Kollegen zur Steigerung der Wirkung nicht missen wollen. Er weiß, wo Ruhe mehr bringt als aufgereiztes Musizieren. Er erzählt auf diese Weise eine Geschichte, die zusammenhält.

Bernard Haitink, one of the great Mahler conductors, has led and recorded this work often enough to have had a variety of different perspectives on it. The new release from BR Klassik…has an exceptionally intense and heartfelt first movement, filled with grief. From the start, this movement pulls listeners into a world of regret, which only deepens—although not quite all the way into depressive gloom—as the movement progresses. The second movement is an exceptionally effective contrast, its pastoral simplicity offering comfort through closeness with nature: the movement almost rocks the listener into repose, although, again, it never quite attains the feeling toward which it seems always to move. The second half of this performance is not quite as effective as the first, although it is still very fine. Haitink shapes the music so well and keeps it flowing so smoothly that the passage of time soon becomes irrelevant as he immerses himself, the orchestra and the audience in a conclusion that, far from being emotionally wrenching, eventually brings a sense of calm mixed with inevitability. As a whole, this is a convincing and often lovely performance, very well and stylishly played… © 2012 Infodad.com Read complete review