Peter Goldstein:

>I'm starting to get into Shostakovich, and I wondered if anyone had any
>insights on the relative merits of the various recorded symphony cycles:
>Haitink, Kondrashin, Rostropovich, and anyone else you know of.

I would mix and match, and I will just mention a few.  I particularly like
Bernstein (NY Philharmonic) for Symphonies 5 and 7 (the middle movements
on this particularly), and Bernstein's late recordings of 1 and 6, though
many will consider 6 too slow.  Kondrashin is excellent on 6 and 13, but
my favorite 13 is by Kamu on Chandos--very moving performance.  Maxim
Shostakovich is my choice for #15.  After hearing a very special live
performance of #9 by Penderecki, I'm not sure what I'd recommend on disc.
Haitink doesn't do it for me.

Jim Tobin