According to this enthralling survey, Simon Rattle’s 1987 Berlin Philharmonic debut nearly didn’t happen. After being dropped off at the wrong entrance, the 32-year-old conductor found himself lost and wandering the grounds, the score of Mahler’s Sixth Symphony clutched desperately under his arm. He made the rehearsal by the skin of his teeth and the rest, as they say, is history. As it happens, the BPO engineers captured that performance and it’s released here alongside Rattle’s valedictory interpretation of that same work earlier this year in what was a poignant farewell after leading the orchestra for 16 years.

It makes for fascinating listening. It’s not that Rattle has changed a lot – tempi remain pretty much the same, he still places the Andante before the Scherzo, we still get just the two hammer blows – but listening to the two readings back...