Having a handful of versions of each Mahler symphony, I wanted to acquire an additional modern recording of the 6th to expand my collection. Reviews of the Sanderling reading were uniformly great (excepting the few who complained that he conducted Mahler as if it were Shostakovich). I placed that order on Amazon -- and waited-- month after month -- and the delivery date kept getting pushed out farther. As a stopgap measure, I decided to try the Jansons version with the LSO (having been VERY impressed with his reading of Rachmaninoff's Symphonic Dances), and found this live recording to be an overwhelming experience in all particulars. I decisively cancelled the Sanderling order with a clear conscience. As a deeply powerful reading of Mahler's Sixth that traverses its entire arc of nuances, one can only say of this LSO Live release, "Game over, man!" FYI, there should be a "Woofer Advisory" sticker on the CD: the first hammerblow knocks your teeth out.

I should declare my knowledge of Mahler 6 recordings:Vaclav Neumann (excellent)and George Szell(dry and cursory)

i'm very happy with this latest addition to my collection:Jansons has a keen ear for detail but this never impedes the momentum,or a sense of the bigger picture.As for lightweight....i don't hear it myself....but Kubelik was always accused of the same thing,and look how his marvellous,glowing cycle has stood the test of time.The LSO may not be as colourful in timbre as Kubelik's Bavarian RSO but they appear to be at full tilt on this very special occasion.

We here have a classical and straightforward and somewhat 'light' (as opposed to 'heavy-handed') and 'fresh' account of this maybe greatest of Mahler's symphonies. The soundpicture is nicely direct without being too much in your face or constricting. All in all a success, when we consider the not so flattering acoustics of this recording venue. The technicians must surely have taken this into account here, when the result is so naturally beautiful-sounding.

However classical or 'light' his approach might be, Mariss Jansons - who now blesses us with his presence as chief conductor of the Koninklijk Concertgebouworkest - from the start just takes us by the throat and drags us through this world at an almost unrelenting pace, which makes the inevitability of fate which looms larger than life over the whole symphony seem all the more immediate. There is for me here a constant uneasy feeling (which I believe is just what Mahler would want me to feel) of a constant pressing on towards the end, not wanting to delay but take fate head-on, as it were. Although there are more expanded views of this symphony, this recording is very rewarding on all fronts. Bravo to all involved. We now cannot but eagerly await Mariss Jansons' Mahler 6 with the Concertgebouworkest.

A rendering of "the only sixth" in the classical repertoire worth more than five stars. Wao, I am speechless, what a feeling of vastness, infinitude; I am finally beginning to get it. A "bravo" and another for Jansons, who is quickly becoming one of my favorite conductors, alongside Klemperer and Celibidache.

The Mahler 6th is a work of such desperation and struggle that I find it tough to imagine how anyone can miss its overt tragedy. Doesn't every bar contain wild abandon that begs to be released? I think so, but not all interpreters agree. In this LSO Live recording, Mariss Jansons decides that there's little need for drama, much less propulsion. He's calm, polite, and assured, but are those qualities of greatness in Mahler?

Some reviewers sympathize with such restraint, but I can't bring myself to see its merit. This is essentially a reading that seeks to classicize all romantic passion. To be fair, Jansons does have the LSO, and while there's no excessive big sound, Jansons manages a fairly rich, athletic tone. I hear little fireworks, but some will admire the solid cohesion of the orchestra, capturing details with clarity, even if they don't rival their counterparts in Berlin and Vienna. Textures are somewhat lean, actually. But the problem is Jansons, who conducts most of the symphony with a near nonchalance. He seems anxious to play it safe.

So nothing goes wrong and there's fine orchestral color, but emotionally there's nothing to make a fuss about. When Claudio Abbado returned to Berlin a few years after this recording was made, he had all the commitment and passionate drive that Jansons avoids. If you like Mahler high on perfection but low on artistic input, this recording meets those expectations. Otherwise, you might be better to look elsewhere for a Mahler 6th that goes beyond the literalness of the score.