The death of in 2021 has hardly slowed the pace of releases from this much-loved and prolific conductor, and valuable new interpretations from his baton continue to appear. This recording of 's , was made live in 2012 with the at the Philharmonie im Gasteig in Munich. The live sound from the radio network's engineers is remarkably clear, and in every way, this is a performance in the classic mold, restrained, accurate in the smallest details, and beautifully shaped. It followed on a live performance with the the (available on the orchestra's label), and it is interesting to note the variations in tempo from a conductor doing basically the same thing as he was before; most of the movements are close, but the opening movement is close to a minute faster. The fourth is the only symphony with a program, and while is not the conductor one would choose for heavy programmatic effects, he can be extremely evocative in, say, the scene of the strolling organ musician who entertains the hunters in the Trio of the Scherzo, and the hunting horns at the beginning are properly restrained, not military marching sounds. is at his best in building up a movement inexorably, and this is why he is admired as a conductor. Consider the flawless detail in the beginning of the first movement, proceeding as if ordained from its Beethovenian open fifth. This is wonderful and fans have snapped it up, putting the album on classical best-seller lists in the late summer of 2023. ~ James Manheim