Karel Ancerl's Mahler Ninth remains one of the great ones, a performance of extraordinary passion and anguish. The climaxes in the first movement seldom have sounded so wrenching, nor has the Rondo:Burleske achieved a more snarling, malevolent communicativeness from any orchestra's wind section than what the Czech Philharmonic offers here. Ancerl's tempos are generally flowing. In the final Adagio, Ancerl reveals more volatility than in so many of today's ultra-slow versions, and this makes the final descent into silence all the more moving. Sonically this always was one of the better Ancerl recordings, clear and very present. Remastering has made the orchestra's characteristically lean sonority even more vibrant, though on some systems it may come across as somewhat overly bright. This is still one of the truly essential recordings of the work, one that no Mahler lover can afford to ignore. [10/6/2004]
