Sinopolis Mahler cycle from DG, any comment ?

I've read many about Bernstein and Abbado's Mahler, how about Sinopoli's Mahler cycle from DG. I'm new to Mahler, is it a good investment ?

I've only heard the 6th. It's interesting, with some extreme tempi, and some rather ragged ensemble from the Philharmonia (maybe those two phenomena aren't unrelated). Not a performance I'd recommend to someone who didn't know the symphony already.

It's not likely to increase in value, if that's what you mean ...

Sinopoli's cycle has some excellent performances (notably 3, 5, 8), but also some pretty pedestrian ones; I'm still working my way through his cycle, and it's a curious and sometimes frustrating experience. Sinopoli was an odd conductor, and it's tricky to try to generalize about his style. Sometimes he seems dreadfully dull and literal-minded about the whole business of music making, at other times he could be quite inspired. I don't quite 'get' him yet, despite owning many of his recordings.

If you're after a cycle-in-a-box, I think you'd do better elsewhere. Bernstein on Sony, Kubelik, or Haitink would be my choices for a consistently good boxed set. Tennstedt, Sinopoli, Segerstam, Bernstein 2, and Solti all fall into the 'interesting but uneven' category.

And of course I'm supposed to add that you shouldn't buy a boxed set because, um, I forget why.

Tony Movshon

I started by buying the Haitink set and gradually complemented it with outstanding recordings of separate symphonies. These have been discussed at length so I won't go into details

Perhaps because

I like some of the recordings in the set enormously: his 3 and 8 belong at the top of my particular heap, I like his 9 quite a bit, and his is the best of the extremely slow 10/is I've encountered, but the rest are uneven to dull. For a generally negative review, you could check David Hurwitz's review at classicstoday. That said, I don't think it's a worse investment than most or perhaps any of the other box sets out there. For around the same amount of money you could probably assemble a complete set courtesy of a wide range of conductors that would be better than any of the integral sets. Check google for previous threads on how to do so.

Not if you're new to Mahler - but if you think you'ev heard everything in Mahler then its worth a try - but for teh newcomer and many old-comers I'd suggest Kubelik on DG - its cheaper and in many ways more even then Sinopoli.

Agreed on better, but since Sinopoli's set (and, e.g., Bernstein/Sony and Kubelik/DG) are budget-priced, what about the less money part?

Marc Perman

I suppose we'd have to put one together to find out. Mehta/LAPO for 1 and 3, perhaps Abbado for 2 and 4 (both two-fers). Solti on a single disc for 8 (or Sinopoli on a two-fer for 8 and part of 10). Shipway or Mackerras for 5 (both dirt cheap) . . .

Only important if you lack Horenstein's #3 ...

Mackerras for 5 (both

Solti's 8th is mid-priced, which cancels out Shipway/Mackerras. 6 and 7 are going to be a problem...

Marc Perman