[Merl]

I have and like lots but Kubelik, Bertini, Chailly, Gielen, Levine (yeah I know its not a full set) and Boulez (thanks to Knorf for getting me to give this set another go) are all very strong. I should also mention the wonderful but uber rare 1995 Mahlerfeest set which is highly recommended if you can get hold of a copy. I wish Honeck would finish the cycle off for Exton as what he has done has been excellent however Exton already have my go-to Mahler set now in the shape of Inbal's superb 2nd cycle with the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra. Outstanding accounts in state of the art sound. Gatti has done quite a few of them now (1,2,4,5 & 6?) and he's well worth a look at.

 

[Merl]

..... only one never seems to get an airing (Gergiev's cycle, which I not only find brash, but I am also unhappy to listen to anything produced by Putin's little rentboy)

Hahaha. It is "brash" and a bit unsubtle, CnC, and it's certainly a ragged cycle but there are a few very good recordings in there (I really like his 6th and especially his 7th). The biggest problem with that cycle isn't Gergiev's fault but the poor acoustic of the Barbican which is flat. On a few of my discs the volume is a bit low too.

 

[Merl]

What do Mahler fans think of the Gielen cycle? I bought a copy because it was on sale cheap at JPC several years ago but I rarely get inspired to listen to it.

I like it a lot and similarly rate Gielen's Beethoven Symphony cycle highly however I, too, rarely reach for it when I want to play Mahler but tbh I rarely reach for any of my cycles and just pick individual Mahler discs so Gielen is not alone. If I'm playing music from my HD then Chailly (both), Gielen, Bertini and Neumann tend to get picked a little more than others. The last Mahler CDs I played were Kubelik (Audite) for the 1st, Honeck for the 4th, Zander for the 9th and Gergiev for the 7th (not cos they are my faves, btw, but they are all very good at least).