Tony Duggan wrote:

>The reason I think these excesses are inappropriate is because I think
>there is already enough emotion and excess written into the music for
>any more to need to be added by the conductor and that any more that gets
>added becomes a self-indulgence serving the conductor and not the composer.
>For me the best Mahler conductors are the ones that can allow the music
>to speak for itself, allowing you to see the musical wood for the
>interpretative trees, which I find I cannot do for too many great passages
>under Bernstein.

Which is one of the reasons I like much of the Mahler Haitink produced.
Though he can be sedate at times (his first recording of the 8th is not a
winner), there are a number of fine recordings where his sense of balance
really pays off (the Concertgebouw 9th and BPO 3rd are good examples).
In a recent television interview to mark his 70th birthday, Haitink
remarked that, oddly enough, he wasn't even sure he liked Mahler.  As
Tony indicated, becoming over-involved may not always do the music good.
Sometimes a respectful distance leads to a clearer vision.

Ruben