I hear Leonard Bernstein has good one, and I know that his includes most (maybe all) of the Lieder as well. I have Gary Bertini with the Cologne Radio-Symphony. It's not very good. Who has released a set with al the symphonies and songs? Which one of them is the best? I'm embarrassed to say that I don't own a SET of Mahler symphonies (I've got individual CDs of all the symphonies, but no single set).
I've heard some of Bernstein's recordings of these symphonies, and, while a LOT of people seem to live by these, I find them to be WAY too slow, and rather uninspired. I'd stay away. But you're going to get a lot of other answers that say just the opposite. To each his own. Also, I think I remember hearing that he recorded this cycle more than once. ???
Do you NEED to have a set, all by one conductor? Simon Rattle has recorded quite a lot of these symphonies, and I think most of his work is fantastic (particularly when he was with Birmingham). Boulez has recorded quite a few, too. Klemperer would also be worth checking out for some "historic" recordings.
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after reading the post directly below mine, I was THRILLED to learn that Rattle has indeed released a set of all the Mahler symphonies (including the posthumously completed 10th, which seems to be a Rattle speciality, and Das Lied von der Erde). I think some/many of these recordings are re-releases of earlier recordings of his, but I am going to go and order this set RIGHT NOW. Various great sets of this - none of them are definitive (how could there be) - which I think is just fine. I love Boulez, Berstien is the classic but after hearing Rattle and the Berlin do the Ninth live a couple of weeks ago I cant stop playing the Rattle set.
After looking at the above post I'd add Klemperer for sure. I have a 10 CD set - all symphonies + "Das Lied von der Erde" - performed by Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, conducted by Rafael Kubelik (Deutsche Gramophon). I can strongly recommend to try to find it - the quality is excellent, I'm sure You'll enjoy!
P.S.(EDIT): Recently a friend of mine found the same set in MP3 compressed form at:
http://thepiratebay.org/tor/3675567/Gust... Lenny's set is considered the one by which others are judged. Klemperer's set is highly regarded, as is Von Karajan's (esp. the ninth).
I have Zubin Mehta and the Vienna doing No.2 which is pretty good also, although I haven't heard his attempts at the others. Firstly, despite what other replies seem to imply, Klemperer did not record a complete cycle - he never even conducted 5 or 8 AFAIK.
He recorded 2, 4, 7 and 9 plus Das Lied.
For my money the three greatest Mahler conductors of the 20th century were Barbirolli, Horenstein and Scherchen. None recorded a complete cycle, although you can assemble a cycle of recordings by them collectively.
Bernstein? Probably believed he *was* Mahler (he wasn't). great 2 (the first one from 1962) and 3, so-so 4, good 5 (DG not CBS), hysterical 6 both) fine but poorly recorded 8 (CBS, not DG) and three probably overrated 9s.
I could go on, but there are plenty of web resources - let me just point you at mine, albeit several years out of date: http://turing.cs.camosun.bc.ca:8080/Mahl... I'd say Bernstein. As a complete recording, i'd say Abbado is my favourite. Did Walter record a Mahler Cycle? Does anyone have an opinion on his recordings of any Mahler symphonies? definately leonard bernstein | 