A box of French delights from the Paavo Järvi and the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester

Doing justice to the vast scale of Mahler's "Symphony of a Thousand" is itself the mightiest of tasks. Semyon Bychkov and his NDR forces only partially succeed.

Alan Gilbert and his NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester partner first Igor Levit, and then Michelle DeYoung and Gerald Finley, in a night of outstanding music-making devoted to the music of Bartók.

Three diverse works written within 15 years of each other, by Kodály, Poulenc and Prokofiev, given with panache by the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra, the amazing Jussen brothers and Stanislav Kochanovsky.

Conducting the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester, the Latvian Andris Poga reveals a surer hand in Shostakovich's final symphonic statement than in the partnering of Nina Stemme in Wagner, where her big voice often missed the essential intimacy.

Opening the new season, Alan Gilbert and the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester send out a clear message in Mahler's Second Symphony, both lyrically shaped and dramatically inflected.