[Haitink] shows no sign of weakening his grip on the seemingly effortless long-term vision which has always been a hallmark of his masterly conducting. There are no surprises here other than in the Finale...Solo work is superb throughout, especially so from the first horn, and a live recording which captures barely a shuffle from the audience...a palpable front-runner.

the way Haitink negotiates the first movement's troubled course displays an unflinching grasp of where and when the climaxes should hit hardest...Between the outer movements' polar extremes Haitink manages vivid reportage of the Landler's ribald humour...This is unquestionably one of the great Ninths of recent years

there's a feeling of urgency about this new performance that I don't remember in Haitink's Mahler before, as if he is now almost impatient with the Ninth's resigned acceptance of mortality. There's an angularity about the woodwind lines and a rawness to the textures from what is one of Europe's finest orchestras that seems to expose the music's nerve ends; it's not always comfortable listening, but it is sometimes startling.