I've been teetering as to whether this rate this 4 or 5 stars. What pushed me on to five stars, was the simple fact that EMI is selling this as a "twofer" - two discs for the price of one. Sorry to base it upon such a practical issue, but I'm afraid that it really did come down to that for me. As for the performance itself, my feelings lie somewhere between Tony Duggan's "stand up and cheer" rave review at The Mahler-list, and Dave Hurwitz's 7/7 dismissal at Classicstoday.com. That said, I too noticed the same exact drawbacks as Mr. Hurwitz did. I just don't feel that these shortcomings are severe enough to denigrate the recording as whole. Then again, I'm rarely thrilled with the sound on these Rattle/Berlin ventures. In this case, the sound strikes me as being a bit better than usual from this team. As for specific drawbacks, I see mainly two.
In the first movement, as Hurwitz points out, the main climax needs stronger low brass, as well as a stronger whack on the big gong. Karajan gets the gong part right (as well as the "flames of hell" rising from the dissonant low "A" in the ((french)) horns), while Giulini gets his Chicago low brass to hammer the movement's main rhythmic motif with the greatest possible force - just as Mahler indicates. Other than that, Rattle's first movement strikes me as being far superior to his earlier Vienna one - a badly balanced recording in general. My other complaint has to do with the Rondo-Burlesque.
As Hurwitz again pointed out, the R-B's contrasting central episode is quick to the point of rushing. But more bothersome to my ears, is the fact that Rattle's initial tempo for the R-B isn't that much quicker. In other words, there isn't a lot of contrast - tempo wise - between the main body, and the much need respite of that central interlude. For me, a wee sense of tedium sets in just before the central episode comes to its rescue. Perhaps that was Rattle's point from the start, I don't know. Regardless, I certainly have no complaints about the string playing in the finale, made better by Rattle's natural flow for the bulk of it.
That said, I too noticed the two very same small shortcomings that Hurwitz points out: the violas are a tad too loud with their final triplet figure near the end of the symphony, and Rattle begins to fade before the harmony is fully resolved at the end. These are small points, to be sure - but noticeable.
Coming back to the big picture, here's the bottom line: if you're strongly curious, get it - EMI priced it as one disc. If you already own one of the Berlin Phil.'s many fine recordings of the Mahler 9th - the one Mahler symphony that they ALWAYS do very well - you really don't need to jump ship. I think that Karajan does a better job of nailing the major climaxes in the two outer movements. But Rattle is better in a number of smaller details, in spite of the negative ones pointed out. The Abbado one is perfectly fine for those who prefer their Mahler 9th to fit on one disc. And let's not forget an old favorite: the Barbirolli M9 from the middle 60's (it always struck me as a bit too soft-edged for this particular work, but it's fine none the less). As for EMI, I simply can't understand why they didn't want to hold off issuing their Simon Rattle complete Mahler symphonies box set, in order to include this obviously superior performance and recording. Go figure!
