Rhythmically very taut, clean and just a little unusual…The conductor holds focus in what can sometimes be a turgid sequel to the opening funeral march; the scherzo flies…And the finale is just perfect: not a lazy phrase in all that welter, an emphatic trumping of all that’s gone before as the chorale blazes out in full might and a thrilling final rush.

The orchestral playing is crisp, the conductor’s clinical tendencies tempered by an understanding that emotional extremism is an essential part of Mahler’s idiom even if it need not be indulged

This performance has many virtues… I found much to enjoy in the performance and I shall be very interested to hear what Osmo Vänskä – and the BIS engineers – make of the Second and Sixth symphonies.

While in a few places this recording is arguably not quite as searingly white-hot in its intensity as some others, Vänskä’s more controlled approach pays enormous dividends at the climaxes, helped hugely by fantastic brass: their chorales in the second and fifth movements blaze powerfully. The Minnesota strings also excel themselves: in contrast to the radiant brass, there are some exquisite passages at the other extreme of volume.

The players certainly sound overjoyed to be recording again with their charismatic Finnish maestro. This symphony showcases their virtuosity in all sections... The players round off with an electrifying, dramatic account of the Rondo, captured in fabulously “present” sound.

There’s something admirably unhistrionic about Vänskä’s approach, but there are times when his determination to stop the performance from getting overheated holds things back...Against that, both the funereal opening and the joyous release of energy in the finale are superbly stage-managed, and the orchestral playing is exceptional throughout.