Svetlanov

[AZContrabassoon]

A new review in Classics Today begins:

Weird when it isn’t just plain unmusical, horribly played, sung, and recorded, this is without question the most terrible Mahler cycle in the catalogue, bar none.

Any opinions?

I haven't heard too many entries in the cycle. I own 4, 7 & 9. Not top-drawer for sure. But not impossibly awful. In fact, I think there is a worse cycle in the catalog, although since it features several conductors maybe the comparison is unfair.

[barry guerrero]

The harsh and poorly detailed sound quality doesn't help. I always kind of liked his M6. But on the whole, I think Kondrashin is better Russian Mahler.

The best Russian M6 that I know of is Thomas Sanderling/St. Petersburg Phil. It's on an obscure, nearly impossible to find label (AR?), but you can hear it for free at Spotify. All of the Russians seem to take M5, M7 and M9 on the fast side.

 Actually, they go fast with all of them. Gergiev is no exception, although he was noticeably slower with his Munich Phil. remake of M2.