# 100 Favorites: # 51



## JACE (Jul 18, 2014)

*Mahler: Symphony No. 6
Sir John Barbirolli, New Philharmonia Orchestra (EMI)*










For a long time, Leonard Bernstein's Mahler 6 with the Vienna PO was my benchmark. I also admired Rafael Kubelik's studio Sixth. Last year, I bought EMI's set commemorating the 150th anniversary of Mahler's birth. Several recordings in that box turned me around, but none more than Barbirolli's Sixth. It's quickly become a new favorite. I love Barbirolli's interpretation, which -- like Bernstein's -- strikes me as intensely personal. Tempos are sometimes slower than what you'd normally hear, but the music never drags. Barbirolli's also convinced me that the Andante/Scherzo order makes the most sense musically. That said, those finer points are only secondary; the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. This performance is extraordinary, luminous, one-of-a-kind.


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