Album: Mahler, Symphony No 4 / PO / Mackerras (Signum)

When the Royal Festival Hall was being refurbished, the Philharmonia moved next door.

The Queen Elizabeth Hall may have been cramped and dry, but the concerts played there had a special quality as the orchestra and its conductors were forced to rethink balance and timbre. This live recording captures that awkward, edge-of-your-seat magic, with Sir Charles Mackerras at the helm of an intimate reading of Mahler's Fourth, with a daringly folksy "In Gemächlicher Bewegung" and a "Ruhevoll" of stunning simplicity.