Where Bernard Haitink’s recent re‑engagement with the Beethoven symphonies prompted a shift towards lighter textures and swifter speeds, his latest Mahlers have tended to offer the picture unchanged. The present reading – by my reckoning his fourth commercially available audio recording – has his usual unforced virtues but seems a tad earthbound considering that it was captured live at a concert to mark the 50th anniversary of his first appearance with the orchestra. The presentation is not quite top-notch either: there are no texts or translations for the fourth movement and the sound, though pleasantly warm, can be a little woozy with significant vocal and instrumental lines receding into the mix. Final applause is retained, suggesting that the disc may be intended more as a souvenir for attendees than a serious rival to existing recommendations.

Things look up in the finale with the welcome appearance of Christine Schäfer, who was to have contributed to Michael Tilson Thomas’s distinctively languid, soft-grained account with the San Francisco Symphony, only to have to withdraw at the eleventh hour. Apart from one affected portamento, she gets the tone absolutely right, neither too boisterous, like Norrington’s Anu Komsi (Hänssler, 10/06), nor too matronly, like Renée Fleming for Abbado (DG, 1/06). Haitink, too, suddenly turns more deft and responsive.

Admirers of these artists will not hesitate even if the conductor’s overall conception is better represented elsewhere and the SACD encoding probably only emphasises the impression of blandness this time.