COMPOSERS: Mahler
LABELS: Sony
PERFORMER: Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra/Bernstein
Leonard Bernstein’s pioneering CBS MAHLER cycle has never been out of the catalogues since its initial LP release in the Sixties, but this new mid-priced incarnation on Sony (SX12K 89499) is its most user-friendly yet.
Comprehensive movement indexing is priceless if you listen score in hand, and the booklet reprints Bernstein’s compelling and provocative essay (written for the original leather-bound 15-LP set) Mahler: his time has come.