‘This is an extremely enjoyable disc, which casts a lot of light on even those songs of Mahler which were written to be accompanied orchestrally … Genz is singing a cycle to which he is utterly suited, and the effect is magical’ (International Record Review)

‘A rich sonorous eloquence from Genz, while Vignoles musters a full range of orchestral colours. Piano accompaniment lends these works a more personal, intimate feel, turning this generous disc into a pensive, rewarding journey through the many complex moods of Mahler's inner life’ (The Observer)

‘Even in this golden age of Lieder singers, Stephan Genz has few rivals for easeful beauty of tone and acuteness of insight’ (The Daily Telegraph)

‘This disc shows Stephan Genz entering his fourth decade with all the light suppleness and ardour of his youthful recordings, but now with darker colours and firmer bass ballast folding into his baritone. His intuitive musical partnership with Roger Vignoles is as sentient and perceptive as ever; and together they uncover the dark, sensual mysteries of the late-Rommantic response to the natural world’ (BBC Music Magazine)

‘Stephen Genz relies on subtle shading, verbal refinement and a lightness of touch to interpret a generous selection of Mahlerian masterpieces’ (Classic FM Magazine)

'Mahler's Symphonies have been recorded by so many conductors—including Lorin Maazel with the Vienna Philharmonic—that it is hard to imagine what new insights further versions might offer. This release of live recordings from Maazel's 2011 Mahler cycle in the Royal Festival Hall finds the Philharmonia, and particularly the brass, in fine form and the recorded sound is bright and spacious, while Maazel sometimes uncovers details of part-writing and orchestration that usually go unnoticed even in these transparent scores … the most successful reading is Symphony No 1, in which the mystery of the hushed opening, the gutsy resonance of the second movement and the frenzied launch of the finale are comparable with some of the best versions' (BBC Music Magazine)» More

'It's wonderfully stylish: that hesitant Viennese-style playing-around and a lovely warm string sound … you get that audience perspective as if you were sitting in the hall, and it's got all the energy and focus of a live or concert recording' (BBC Radio 3 CD Review)

'This is such a shattering performance of this masterpiece that I can only urge everyone to hear it and prepare themselves for an experience quite out the ordinary' (Classical Source)» More

'The result, with the LSO playing with marvellous expressiveness and energy, is irresistible, at once disciplined and joyfully spontaneous' (The Sunday Times)

'Powerfully presented by Gergiev and the LSO, with excellent playing from all sections' (Audiophile Audition, USA)

'Restlessly probing and adrenally free-flowing, pointing up the music’s soul-searching and daring musical juxtapositions. With Gergiev, the music’s emotional subtext comes bubbling to the surface' (Classic FM Magazine)

'Gergiev's epic struggle to transcendence taps into something powerfully, movingly human' (The Times)