Rafael Kubelik's excellence in Mahler can almost be taken for granted. In general, his live performances offer a higher degree of risk-taking than his studio...

Rafael Kubelik's excellence in Mahler can almost be taken for granted. In general, his live performances offer a higher degree of risk-taking than his studio efforts, which show more care for balance and proportion (generally with no loss of excitement, it must be stressed). The pattern holds here in this live Ninth, recorded in Japan in 1975. A horn bobble here and there notwithstanding, the Bavarian orchestra plays with fire and conviction, and somewhere along the line it has acquired a decent sounding tam-tam, which does wonders for the first movement's dramatic final collapse. The performance resembles Kubelik's Deutsche Grammophon recording in most respects. His "live" tempos are a bit more contrasted in the Rondo:Burleske, and he gets punchier accents from the muted brass in the first movement, resulting in creepier quiet interludes. The finale still moves along at a flowing tempo, rising to a positively incandescent principal climax. NHK Radio's sonics make the BRSO strings sound thinner than they do on DG, but surely closer to an actual concert experience since in all other respects the balances faithfully reproduce the dynamic nuances of Mahler's score. Kubelik's way with this composer certainly was special, and no Mahlerian will want to miss this chance to hear him conduct the Ninth live. --David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com