„In the Allegretto, the delightful spoof on the waltz form emerged, as Nelsons painted the scene of dance and rivalries. The Largo presents a requiem, evocative of liturgical work heard in the Russian orthodox church, yet deceptive. Here Nelsons imparted the intended quiet, somber mood translated through the violins at the start, and subsequently shifted to the winds, introduced by two flutes with dissonance, other winds and developed into occasional small aggressive burst of sound culminating with what seems either like lamentation or even accusation with clarinet, xylophone and piano and then, at the end, apparently compliantly prayerful, with the celeste. Nelsons’s prowess as a conductor shone in the Allegro non troppo, which expands themes from earlier in the symphony, until the trumpet introduces a novel melody transferred to the strings. The movement becomes more tranquil in its midsection, and then a funereal march with reprise of earlier melodies, passed from timpani to winds, and then strings emerges. The minor key of the movement ends in major, triumphantly. After the last notes resounded throughout Symphony Hall, the audience stamped and cheered.“

The Boston Musical Intelligencer