Symphony No. 6 in B minor, Op. 74 "Pathétique"

Recordings worth hearing

• Mravinsky / Leningrad Philharmonic

  Reference

  Deutsche Grammophon · 1960

  The third-movement march is a driving-out rather than a triumph, which is what makes the finale possible. Sixty years on it is still the measure.

• Celibidache / Munich Philharmonic

  Live

  EMI / Warner · 1992

  Extremely slow, a dozen minutes longer than Mravinsky overall, and the finale's disappearance into the basses is drawn out past comfort. That is the point.

Upcoming performances