This is a really fine M7th. I've never heard a recording of the seventh that has such a wide range of tempo variations and yet sounding so convincing. I think Macal's essentially chamber music approach helped in this regard a great deal; had he adopted more aggressive conducting it would have not achieved the level consistency and transparency well demonstrated in this recording. In many ways this is the polar opposite of Kobayashi's spectacularly kaleidoscopic recording with the same orchestra. Sometimes, Macal's soft-grained approach fails to convey the menacing elements of the music, e.g., in the Scherzo that doesn't sound spooky enough. Overall, I still prefer the Kobayashi, but I admire Macal's ability to hang all things together in the music making that is amply abundant with variations in the tempo and mood.
Nice job. I enthusiastically wait for the next installment in Macal's ongoing Mahler series, the M9th.
John,
