Mahler: Symphony No. 7

Disc 1
1	Symphony No. 7 in E minor
2	Symphony No. 7 in E minor
3	Symphony No. 7 in E minor
Disc 2
1	Symphony No. 7 in E minor
2	Symphony No. 7 in E minor
Mahler: Symphony No. 7
1.	Symphony No 7 in E minor "Song of the Night"
	Composed by Gustav Mahler
	Conducted by Michael Tilson Thomas
	Performed by London Symphony Orchestra

Barnes & Noble

None of Mahler's symphonies is particularly easy to interpret, but the Seventh is perhaps the most difficult of all. Of the work's many recordings, only two have really been successful, and they're both by Leonard Bernstein (the first from 1966 on Sony, and the second on DG from a live 1985 concert). Now there's a third winner. Michael Tilson Thomas's masterful performance of this challenging score should cement his reputation as one of the leading Mahler conductors of our time. Like Bernstein, Tilson Thomas understands the haunting, nocturnal spirit of this music. The sprawling opening movement is overwhelming in its grandeur and sweep, yet it's also held tightly together -- no mean feat. The central scherzo movement isn't quite as hair-raising as Bernstein makes it; it's creepy enough in Tilson Thomas's hands and has a lyrical, melancholy air that's strangely affecting. The two "night music" movements are given a lighter touch than usual, emphasizing their nostalgic, serenade like character. But best of all is the finale -- the most difficult to interpret of the symphony's five movements -- where Tilson Thomas steers through the wild, ever-shifting musical landscape with elegance and dignity. The London Symphony plays magnificently for their former principal conductor, and RCA's recording is vivid and atmospheric. Andrew Farach-Colton

Gramophone

[Tilson Thomas] is very much alive to [the Seventh's] 'concerto for orchestra' potential, but he emphasizes also its radical discontinuities. Contrast, parody, and even brashness, are paramount... An impressive acheivement.