Here are Mahler Symphonies 1 - 6 from the 1980s with Leonard Bernstein conducting three different orchestras. This is his second cycle that carryied through, I believe, the Seventh Symphony. All feature cover art from Romain de Tirtoff (known as Erté.) All are on 33-1/3 vinyl. Afair, all are live recordings. And all are what DG used to call
Numerique - digital. I'm guessing these are recorded through a digital processor onto tape and records taken from that, so there is probably not a contradiction between them being digital and mastered from analogue tape. All are available for purchase today between $40-$60, though No 5 maybe a bit hard to locate for less than 3 figures. As reissues these were cut on 180g 'audiophile' vinyl at Emil Berliner and pressed at Pallas.
Here is the cover for Symphony No.1
I accumulated this set - new Mahler recordings on LP aren't exactly falling out of trees - and they went into my FIFO stack of 'records to be cleaned and played' which doesn't seem to be getting any smaller. I recently went for the Resurrection Symphony (No 2) to try out my new turntable setup and to listen to some Mahler.
On the downside, despite cleaning cycles on the ADS, the vinyl was a bit too crackly for a new record. That was a disappointment that will cause me to check out both another copy and another symphony to see if it is a character of the set or I have a less than perfect copy. Be that as it may....
As the marketing stuff sez: "This is the most imposing performance of this symphony currently available." That's probably true. With the highest resolution I've yet to have in my room, I heard more music and musical information from this warhorse than ever before. 'Stunning.' It demanded volume, or perhaps more apt, power. The opening basses grab you by the throat. Timpani in the third and fourth mvmnts will push you back in your seat. However, dynamic balance was a bit odd, at least for me: the loud was very loud and the soft was very soft. Once cranked up it to near live volume it all seemed to work out. For the first time I thought dangerous thoughts about higher powered amps and/or a bigger room. Of course if any symphony can cause that, it's this one.
Bernstein's performance is of course unique. In his second cycle he is not as boisterous yet no less himself. He makes you aware of the transitions. And his first movement is l-o-n-g though things pick-up after that. The sonics on these two Lps make the Fischer SACD seem almost tame, which is quite something. Perspective is close up though not quite on the podium. There is an incredible amount of performance technique to be had here and it opens up the interior life of the orchestra like few others I've heard. As a live recording there is near zero audience noise but a sense of 'live air' and the musicians really being 'on' for LB.
That's enough for now. If you're a fan and do vinyl, it's worth your while to check out (at least) one from this series. And if you do - please let us know how things went. Cheers.