Tony Duggan brings one of the Mahler-List's favorite subjects to MCML: >Bob [Stumpf] puts his finger on the problem. Bernstein in Mahler is too >"idiosyncratic". I would also add far too personally involved to the >extent that his idiosyncrasy and involvement becomes irritating in a short >time and annoying over longer. I have heard Bernstein only in 1, 2, 3, 5 (both NYPO and VPO), 6, and 9. I agree with you on all counts except for 5. What exactly is it about the VPO recording that people find idiosyncratic? When I compare it to my five other M5's, I don't hear anything that makes me think I'm listening to "Bernstein 5" rather than Mahler 5. True, the Adagietto is a bit of a wallow. But if I were to walk in on this performance mid-disc, I would be hard pressed to identify it as belonging to a certain conductor. I'm not asking for a bar-for-bar analysis, but one or two examples of idiosyncracies would be appreciated. Mitch Friedfeld