LSO/Gergiev – review

Barbican, LondonThe London Symphony Orchestra's principal conductor has his sceptics, and they are rarely more vocal than when it comes to his Mahler. It's fast, flashy and lacking proper schooling – or so the usual charges run, ascribing to Gergiev's musical direction the stereotypical afflictions of bling-obsessed new Russia.Mahler's Ninth, its outer movements shot through with references to the "Lebe wohl" (farewell) motif from Beethoven's 26th piano sonata, is typically understood as a stu...

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