Spain’s Ritmo magazine has awarded its Critic’s Choice to Semyon Bychkov and the Czech Philharmonic’s complete Mahler Symphonies box set on Pentatone, singling out the Fourth and Eighth as among the most well-rounded recordings in Bychkov’s already extensive discography.
Recorded over seven years between 2018 and 2025, the eleven-disc cycle is praised for its clarity and restraint, with critic Daniel Pérez Navarro describing an approach that skims the fat off the Mahlerian broth in favor of elegance, attention to detail, and radiant, energetic finales. The review places Bychkov’s interpretive stance alongside conductors like Chailly and Haitink, noting a sustained commitment to reason and objectivity across all nine symphonies.
Ritmo highlights the Third and Eighth as pure joie de vivre from the first note to the last, and credits the Czech Philharmonic Choir and Orchestra with warm timbres, great transparency, and highly personal woodwinds throughout the cycle.
The review situates Bychkov’s Mahler within a distinctly Bohemian lineage, aligning the composer with Smetana, Dvořák, and Janáček.
Mahler: Symphonies Nos. 1–9 is out now on PENTATONE.
