Jonathan Nott and the Bamberg Symphony started recording the complete symphonies of Gustav Mahler for Tudor in 2005, and the 2013 release of the Symphony No. 8 in E flat major is the crowning achievement of the project.

Jonathan Nott and the Bamberger Symphoniker have written a special chapter in recording history with this series. Currently nominated in the 2012 BBC Music Magazine Awards, their recording of Mahler Symphony No.3 (TUDOR7170) was a BBC Music Magazine Orchestral Choice; “a recorded spaciousness which lets every ensemble and solo spiritually resound.”

Jonathan Nott turns in a shapely, poised, somewhat cool account of the Fourth Symphony. Flowing tempos and a fine soprano soloist in the finale (fresh-voiced and innocent, as Mahler demands) make for consistently pleasant listening, but some might discern a certain overall want of tension.

It took Mahler over four years to complete his first symphony. The composer conducted the first performance in 1889 and received a hostile reception from press and public alike. It is now a favourite in concert halls around the world. The Bamberg Symphony Orchestra is led by their star conductor, Jonathan Nott, a conductor who is leading the orchestra to new heights. Their performances and recordings receive unprecedented praise wherever they are played.

Jonathan Nott has been the principal conductor of the Bamberger Symphoniker since the year 2000 and this has been a very successful partnership. Their recording of Mahler’s 9th Symphony (TUDOR7162) won several awards “This is a fine achievement in a towering symphony.”

Jonathan Nott’s 2009 recording of
Mahler’s Symphony No. 9 with the Bamberger Symphoniker (Tudor SACD) offers a meticulously detailed, chamber-like interpretation that emphasizes texture and clarity. While some critics find the interpretation lacks the intense emotional weight of other recordings, it is praised for its sonic quality.

My Sixth will propound riddles the solution of which may be attempted only by a generation which has absorbed and digested my first five symphonies.' Thus Gustav Mahler, writing in 1904 to his biographer Richard Specht.

Jonathan Nott's interpretive approach to Mahler's Symphony No.5 eschews fashionable interpretive histrionics yet conveys all of the work's drama and multifaceted moods, from the visceral outbursts of the opening movements to the sensual Adagiertto, in a recording with remarkable detail. The stunning surround SACD mix puts you fifth row center in Bamberg's acoustically superb Joseph Keilberth Hall.

Jonathan Nott continues his very successful Mahler series with Symphony No.2. The soloists are Anne Schwanewilms soprano and Lioba Braun contralto. BBC Music Magazine described Nott’s recording of Mahler’s Symphony No.9 as “a fine achievement in a towering symphony.”

Every once in a while, an awesome recording of a difficult and complex Mahler symphony shows up right out of left field. This is one of them.