Gustav Mahler - Symphony No.10 ed. Cooke (BBC National Orchestra of Wales - Mark Wigglesworth) - 1993

This is unlike Rattle, or Harding; it is a remarkably Austro-German-Czech-styled performance, with more of a Central European than a Western European character to it, and with the big structural line dominant over everything. Imagine the Vaclav Neumann recording of the lone First Movement, and you know generally how that movement is played here (which is terrific); and Wigglesworth carries that approach consistently to the end of this, Mahler's most otherwordly, and perhaps greatest, symphony. The difference from Neumann (who was a very great Mahler conductor on the late symphonies 6-10, and great on the ones before) is that Wigglesworth's approach is a bit more on the dramatic side, and is a bit less on the sensuous side. However, if you like Neumann in the late Mahler symphonies (and I think he does a better job with them than anyone else, actually), you'll love this performance. It is chilling. (Not cold – chilling, like scary.)

The only other recording of the complete Mahler 10th that I like at all is the one by Kurt Sanderling, but I give the edge to Wigglesworth because Sanderling projects the music even less sensuously than Wigglesworth does, almost coldly (in addition to scary). This symphony can and does work well in a cool style, because it's quite otherworldly, but Mahler was human even in the 10th Symphony, and Wigglesworth achieves here a spiritual balance that I think suits the music just right. Perhaps if Neumann had recorded the complete symphony, Wigglesworth's recording would be the second-best, but he did not; and so, for me, this sounds like the most authentic performance available, and it is certainly a great one.

I might note that whereas Wigglesworth uses the 1976 Deryck Cooke version, Sanderling uses the Cooke-Goldschmidt version; but, to me, both of these versions sound entirely authentic, and they're virtually indistinguishable from one another, so the main difference is in the conducting-style. To simplify, I'd say that Sanderling's style is north Germanic, whereas Wigglesworth's is more Viennese. As for the orchestras, they're both fine. Perhaps the Czech Philharmonic would have been slightly better, but these are fine orchestras; so, again, the chief difference is the conductors. Either Wigglesworth or Sanderling will do, but I prefer Wigglesworth, for the reasons stated.
Eric Zuesse