Benjamin Zander with The Boston Philharmonic

"...one of the three greatest Mahler Sixths this reviewer has ever heard."

"This set joins the Rattle and two Bernstein recordings as the finest on records...The Boston Philharmonic compared favorably with the august Vienna Philharmonic in the voting!...The care with which it was rehearsed was manifest in every bar...The andante is achingly beautiful under Zander's baton...the finale is superb in all respects, imparting its dark message, despair and cataclysmic emotionalism as well as Bernstein and Rattle, but exceeding them, and everyone else for that matter, with the hammerblows...The sonics are terrific, balanced naturally, clear and detailed, with an incredible dynamic range and as accurate an image of a concert hall as I have ever heard...All things considered - performance, sonics and orchestral execution - when I reach for a recording of the Sixth to play for my own pleasure, it will most likely be this one." "

"The best performance I have yet heard of Mahler's Sixth Symphony."

"This recording counts among the few almost wholly successful accounts of a work one should only be able to hear a few times in a decade."

"Zander and the orchestra were alive in every measure as storytellers and scene-painters, reciting the swirling, madcap joys and virulent nastiness of "Petrushka" with searing intensity and sharply focused gesture. The winds' shimmering ostinati, the glinting edge of the concerted brass, Kathleen Boyd's flute incantation and the trumpet solos of Jeffrey Work were especially delicious; but the whole performance left you feeling as though you had been struck by lightning - dazzled with all your molecules rearranged."

"Has to be heard to be believed... profoundly touching... a compelling atmospheric performance."

"Mr. Zander's orchestra plays with exhilarating authority. The Finale is positively harrowing: cross rhythms explode against one another with brilliant virtuosity. That the performance was taped live makes it doubly impressive...the sound is superb, the interpretation likewise."

"...One of the greatest recordings of the year... the recorded sound will take your breath away... an audiophile's dream... a performance which would do any orchestra proud, a thoroughly convincing interpretation and one of our greatest Sacres..."

"...One of the most extraordinary discs for some time...has to be heard to be believed...the performance has a blazing intensity that few of its slickly produced studio rivals can match...You could not say you truly know the work without it."

"Stunning, positively primeval...with a breathtaking finale...brilliantly transferred to disc."

"An essential buy for anyone wanting to discern the real Beethoven."

"I can't stress enough that this disc is an absolute must for all who love the Ninth Symphony. Bravo to all concerned with this magnificent achievement."

"Benjamin Zander is deeply concerned with authenticity...."

"The conception is startling. Zander energizes rather than trivializes the music...There's a cheeky, brashly exuberant, youthful flow from beginning to end...What fun - what serious fun - to listen to and think about."

"I can't stress enough that this disc is an absolute must for all who love the Ninth Symphony. Bravo to all concerned with this magnificent achievement."

"...everything about Zander and his music-making is all out, emotional and exuberant."