Bob Lyman wrote:

>BTW, any opinions on the late recording of the complete Mahler Symphonies,
>by Bernstein on DG?  BMG has the set at a budget price.

It depends on the price.  Under $60? Otherwise, I'd avoid this set.  As
Bernstein got older, he seemed to be under the impression that the tortoise
was the wisest animal in the forest.  This doesn't mean that he couldn't
beat faster tempos or that an even slower tempo is worse.  But it does mean
that in general he can't sustain the slow tempos he sets.  It's like trying
to make your way through a pool-sized lava lamp.  I should say that I don't
agree with Bernstein's view of Mahler the Tortured Soul.  This doesn't mean
that Mahler didn't have troubles or that his symphonies are not, to some
extent, spiritual autobiographies, but I do think Mahler the composer far
more intellectual, and vivaciously intellectual at that.  It's another
view, somewhat contrary to prevailing opinion, and Bernstein seems at one
extreme of that opinion.

Steve Schwartz