"The biggest surprises of Mahler's second, 1893 version of his first symphonic masterpiece ... are the touches of orchestration later changed, usually for the better ... Roth's punchiness is probably appropriate to the original; nothing drags"

"The recording also sticks a feather in the cap of Les Siècles, among the most adaptable and engaging of today's historically informed ensembles formed in the image of their director ... I applaud, too, Roth's unabashed commitment to those passages of the finale where Mahler himself later had second thoughts - deft and ingenious ones, to be sure, but thinning out its red blood cells in the process ... This new Titan is a required supplement to any decent-size Mahler library"

"CD des Monats: Es mag dramatischere Deutungen dieser Musik geben. Aber es gibt ganz sicher nur wenige, die ihren naturhaft kreatürlichen Charakter überzeugender zur Geltung bringen"

"Vurdering: Diapason d'or"

"Recording of the week: If you're at all interested in orchestration then it's fascinating to be able to see the hundreds of tiny changes that Mahler made, and, in conjunction with this wonderful recording, to hear the impact that they make on the mood and emotion of the piece ... The more incisive attack and articulation of the gut strings combined with the smaller bore of the brass instruments reveals one of this performance's major virtues: you can hear a wealth of detail in Mahler's string writing that often gets buried under loud brass chords"

"Recommended: In quieter moments the strings continue to shine, in every sense of the word. And goodness, the closing pages are worth the wait, Roth heightening suspense with all the skill and confidence of a master. His assembled horns whoop with the best of them, and his transported drummers trump them with a truly storming send-off. Bravo, bravo and thrice bravo! Quite possibly Roth's finest Mahler yet; an invaluable addition to the catalogue"