A set easily dispensed with: Sinopoli delivers fine performances of Symphonies 2, 3, and 5, and an exceptionally good Das Lied von der Erde (with the Staatskapelle Dresden sounding much more at home and idiomatic than the Philharmonia ever does). Everything else is mediocre (Das Klagende Lied; Symphonies Nos. 1, 4, 8, and 9) to lousy (Symphonies Nos. 6 and 7). The problems generally stem from slow tempos (Symphony No. 6’s Andante), surprisingly bad playing (Symphony No. 7, finale), mannered phrasing (just about everywhere), strange sonics (often too reverberant with peculiar balances), and an orchestra whose weak trombones and lack of power in its lower registers fail to do justice to the range of Mahler’s unique orchestration. Of all the complete Mahler cycles available, this one arguably makes the least powerful claim on your purse, and it certainly doesn’t equal or surpass those by Tennstedt, Bernstein, Kubelik, Haitink, Ozawa, or even Solti, despite the inclusion of the song cycles and the early cantata.
