In other posts, I'm sure I've mentioned how I like listening to amateur and semi-pro renditions of Mahler. Well, this afternoon I went to see the Wiltshire Sinfonia conducted by Malcolm Binney play M1, and it was flippin' brilliant! It would be no exaggeration to say that it was the best I have ever heard the 2nd movement played, and what a real rip-roaring finale! The one thing that tends to spoil such bands is 'school orchestra' style strings (the sort that is thin and somehow perilously out-of-tune) and fluffed brass notes, but not so here; it was almost note perfect.
Happily they recorded the concert (which also included Stravinsky's "Petrushka"), so guess who's ordered the CD!