Almost exactly 25 years since Barenboim first recorded the Brahms symphonies, he gives us his latest thoughts with an orchestra that he’s led in both the opera house and in concert since 1992. And what a satisfying quartet they make in this first orchestral recording from Berlin’s innovative Pierre Boulez Saal concert hall—each vividly characterised and gloriously played. The Staatskapelle Berlin is an ensemble to rival the rather grander Berlin Philharmonic: The strings play with a glowing flexibility and the winds blend gorgeously. Barenboim lets the music breathe and his choice tempi feels utterly natural. A rather special set from a great conductor-orchestra partnership.