"Paavo Järvi's direction is unusually succesfull at recreating live and contingent drama in studio conditions ... Throughout the ensemble ... the quality of voice-leading raises them above most modern rivals, large or small. Everyone knows where they are going, and how to get there. Järvo allows the pulse to relax without slackening tension during the most searching passages ... Brahms for our time, certainly, but then Brahms is for all time"