Mahler: Symphony No 10, BBCPO/ Noseda

Immediately before making this recording in Manchester, Gianandrea Noseda and the BBC Philharmonic brought Deryck Cooke's performing version of Mahler's unfinished Tenth Symphony to the Proms. It's clear that their version did not travel well, for what seemed a pallid, under-characterised and sometimes insecure performance in the Albert Hall snaps into sharper focus on disc. Despite the improvements, it's still not quite the commanding account this extraordinary work needs. Noseda's self-conscious highlighting of details in the first movement is no compensation for a lack of clear vision of its total architecture, while the finale lacks emotional weight, or at least something to disguise the spareness of Cooke's restrained elaboration. You reach the end of this complex psychological journey without any suggestion of the catharsis that's required. The central sequence of movements fares much better, though, and the vivid clarity of the playing demonstrates that the glitches in the Proms performance were simply a bad day at the office.