The joyous piece that made singing a part of the symphonic fabric, Beethoven’s Ninth, is one of the offerings in this series of orchestral masterpieces, as is Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde (The Song of the Earth), another symphony for voices—a work the composer called his “most personal composition.” Experience these thrilling works in performances by the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra under the superb Mariss Jansons and the Staatskapelle Berlin led by Carnegie Hall Perspectives artist Daniel Barenboim. Also, hear Strauss’s Heldenleben, a raucous tribute to the artist-as-hero, and see Gustavo Dudamel, an “exceptional fresh talent” (Los Angeles Times), conduct the Israel Philharmonic in Bernstein’s tender Halil, dedicated to an Israeli flutist killed at age 19 in the 1973 war.