I bought the George Szell/Cleveland set in their original incarnation
on Epic LPs and played them so much that they are perpetually hotwired
into my memory.  I bought the Sawallisch set on CD and although it has
the advantage of including Overture, Scherzo and Finale and I liked the
performances well enough, there is, as Roger Hecht noted, something not
quite right about the sound - diffuse is the best I can manage.  I've
listened to various individual performances by such people as Kubelik,
Bernstein, Masur, Furtwangler, but was always dissatisfied.  I don't go
to concerts very often, but did hear a knockout performance conducted
by a fill-in conductor from New Orleans whose name eludes me for the
moment.  Then after I'd given up hope, Sony issued the Szell versions
in their Heritage series.  The transfers are fine - the only disadvantage
is one of those horrible sleeves from which the CD can't be removed
without touching the playing surface.  Before commending these to Robert
Stumpf, I checked to make sure that some beancounter zealot at Sony
hadn't deleted them.  Far from it - not only is the Heritage set still
available, but they've been released on separate SACDs.  So Szell remains
the man at the top of my Schumann list.  Incidentally, among his other
recordings, I still think his Walton 2nd leaves the others in the shade.

Richard Pennycuick