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Title: His Chicago is better...
Review: I like very much Abbado directing Mahler's 7th. The velvety sound of this recording makes adds to the impression of night indeed, and I could of course have rated this one with the five stars, but the velvety sound can also be described as haze, it is not clear, and this aspect it shares with the Abbado/Berlin 9th and 6th.Abbado's earlier recording of the 7th with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra - amazon-search: B000001GNE - feels much deeper and urgent to me, more inspired. Chicago played as good as, if not better, the Berlins, and most important: the recorded sound is clearer. I got this Abbado/Berlin before I purchased the Chicago, so this is not a matter of habit. I have many great Mahler 7th, Kubelik (DGG), Kondrashin, Bernstein (Sony), Gielen and these two by Abbado - I don't mention the not so great. My deserted island pick for this symphony would be either Bernstein/New York (Sony) or Abbado/Chicago (DGG), in spite of the superior clarity of Gielen's 7th.
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