Stuart Sinclair writes:

>...  i seem rather lately to be smitten with Mahler.  Could anyone
>help me with recommended recordings of the symphonies.  I already have
>No 4 with Kiri Te kanawa and Sir George Solti and the Chicago Symphony
>Orchestra.

My god are you going to get some opinions...I'll give you a quick run
down of some of my personal favorites that I know are available currently.
Others may disagree with some of my choices, best to run out there and
development your own opinions.  I'll only reccomend recordings that should
be readily available.

Sym. #8 - Solti, you seem to like Solti so I thought I would start there.
Sym. #9 - Bernard Haitink, Phillips
Sym. #5 - Chailly, Decca
Sym. #2 - Otto Klemperer, EMI
Sym. #1, - Kubelik, Deustshe Grammophone
Sym. #3, - Lopez-Cobos, Telarc
Sym. #6 - Boulez, DG
Sym. #7 - Abbado, DG
Das Lied von Der Erde - Horenstein, BBC

Don't be discouraged if the list members start bickering about which is
the best recording.  Figure out for yourself what you like.  If you are
new to Mahler I might say that the 1st, 2nd and 5th are a little more user
friendly than #7, #6 and #9.  That said I love all of Mahler's Symphonies
but they are somewhat demanding.  A friend of mine was forced to attend the
2nd symphony for a college class and found it "ponderous".  I think he was
baffled by the whole thing.

Steve M.