It takes more than a great conductor to lead a great performance of Mahler's Symphony No. 3. It takes a true believer, a conductor who has complete faith in Mahler's ecstatic vision and who can embody it in sound. It takes a conductor who cannot only express everything in the work, from the primordial matter of the opening movement to the sublime ether of the closing movement, but whose absolute faith in Mahler's Third can make even the most obdurate listener believe in every note. Michael Tilson Thomas is a true believer and his 2002 recording of the Third with the San Francisco Symphony compels belief. Of course, the indisputable fact that Tilson Thomas is one of America's great virtuoso conductors doesn't hurt; he holds the Third's entire monumental structure together, granting each of its six movements its own character but forging each movement as part of an indivisible whole. But more important than his skill is his belief that the Third is a revelation of the infinite and the eternal, and far more important than his belief is his ability to make everyone listening believe, too. The San Francisco Symphony plays with power and grace. Mezzo soprano Michelle DeYoung sings with beauty and precision. And the San Francisco Symphony's own recording is as real and honest as anything the major labels are making.

© James Leonard, All Music Guide

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