When I discovered Mahler, it was usually through Solti's recordings (LSO M2 and 9, CSO 5, 6, 7 and
![Cool 8)](http://gustavmahlerboard.com/forum/Smileys/default/cool.gif)
. In those days, my college years, I really liked them. Now, other than DLvDE, I own only 7, a fine performance until the finale, when it turns into an exploding cigar. All the others have been donated when I need to clear shelf space.
Now I find Solti to be somewhere between uninteresting and unlistenable, regardless of composer. I loved that M6 in the late '70s, but now it just sounds frisky where it should be intense. In general, Solti's conducting seems to obscure, rather than reveal, the expressive content of Mahler.
I have the box set of the Solti/CSO Bruckner symphonies, and I keep it only because for some reason, FYE was selling it for $20, and it doesn't take up much shelf space. I will concede that the Scherzo of the Third is a terrific, fire-breathing performance with the CSO at its best.
Decca's SQ, with its unnatural perspective in most cases, didn't help. The tympani often sound as though they were in front of the stage. And I'll insist that counterpoint is at the heart of Mahler's music, and recordings that obscure it fail at a fundamental level.
Which reminds me that several years ago I attended WFMT's all-day seminar on Mahler, led by Bill McGlaughlin of Exploring Music fame. During one of the breaks, we were chatting, and he recommended some of the Abbado/Berlin recordings. Our conversation went like this:
Me: The Berlin Phil is a great orchestra, but they are wrong for Mahler, too blended. Mahler is all counterpoint, and the instruments must sound as discrete voices.
Bill: Are you a composer?
Me: No.
Bill: Well, you have a twisted mind, like a composer.
I will close with my disclaimer that these views are solely mine, that they reflect only one person's preference, and that I do not wish to cast aspersions on anyone's appreciation of Solti's Mahler.