Album: Mahler, Seventh Symphony – LSO/Gergiev (LSO LIVE)

Recorded live at the Barbican in March, Valery Gergiev's performance of the Seventh Symphony as part of his complete Mahler cycle with the London Symphony is typical of his no-holds-barred approach to a composer who himself always goes to the limits.

Even by Mahler's standards, this work explores a huge range of emotion, while highlighting his tendency to undercut and contradict his own material. The weird and grotesque constantly subvert beauty and aspiration in this thrilling interpretation, right through to the ice-cold shudder that precedes the final chord.

Pick of the Album: Mahler's tenderly amorous 'Nachtmusik II'