Benjamin Zander - Philharmonia Orchestra - Mahler: Symphony No. 2 - The Irish Times

Benjamin Zander is a Mahlerian with a difference, as anyone who has heard any of his Irish Mahler performances will attest. He approaches the Resurrection Symphony with composure and freedom, providing airy spaces in which instrumental strands often masked can be clearly heard, and allowing time for chamber-music-like nuancing to register. It is, you might say, a classical approach, in which the consistent pursuit of musical logic serves to make the stormy outbursts and the beatific conclusion stand out all the more effectively. It is, too, a thing of remarkable beauty, though it may not be your cup of tea if you like your Mahler consistently headstrong.