Claudio Abbado's second Mahler cycle for Deutsche Grammophon is making a strong case to be the definitive digital series to own, and on the back of superb live recordings of the Sixth and Resurrection symphonies comes this reappraisal of Mahler's 'heavenly' Fourth.

Providing the child's vision of heaven in the finale is the soprano Renée Fleming, and the extra richness that she brings to this music is most fulfilling, Abbado and the Berlin Philharmonic superbly characterising the accompaniment. It could be argued that Fleming brings a little too much of her full tone to the setting, but I would counter that there is still an innocence and serenity found here, particularly in the magical transformation of singer and orchestra for the last verse.

The conductor refuses to over-exaggerate Mahler's macabre effects in the ghostly Scherzo, but manages nonetheless to get them noticed with the help of violin soloist Guy Braunstein, placed uppermost in the mix. The first movement seems to pass in the blink of an eye and yet is not too fast, with a steady tempo aided and abetted by Abbado's tasteful rubato.

Recording level is the only issue here, as in the finale, where the dynamic range is best captured by a high volume setting, given the amount of soft detail secured. If anything this interpretation of the first movement plots a course emphasising the work's links with the past, with Schubert and Haydn both telling influences. The playing throughout is outstanding, strings as one and woodwind sharply defined, clean yet characterised, and with plenty of humour in evidence.

The slow movement is best, Abbado completely unhurried with the timeless serenity of the strings' first section and yet bringing a mighty surge to the opening of heaven's gates towards the end, a truly euphoric moment as the orchestra is let loose.

An extremely appropriate coupling sees Fleming taking on the early Lieder of Alban Berg, a composer who hero-worshipped Mahler and whose stylistic development owes him a clear debt. Here Fleming and Abbado seem keen to romanticise the music - no bad thing for sure - and the textures of songs such as Nacht take on a suitable exoticism. Fleming's notation is spot on, her word emphasis also ideal, and the nature of the juxtaposition of the composers brings out Berg's natural advancement of Mahler's already forward-thinking harmonies.

If you have other volumes of the Abbado cycle, no need to hesitate here, for this is a disc that not only gives a wonderful performance of the Fourth but serves to emphasise Mahler's links with the Second Viennese School and particularly Berg. Not to mention Renée Fleming's wonderful voice!

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