The Slatkin/SLSO M5 is very good, with near excellent sound quality. The Zinman/Baltimore M6 isn't nearly as well recorded (the hall in Baltimore isn't the best), but it's a solid performance as well. There's no exposition repeat, so it fits easily on one disc. It's in S/A order, and the scherzo is quite good. And yes, the two hammerstrokes are just outrageous sounding! They sound as though someone let off a bomb underneath the stage - a rather reverberant bomb. He did the same thing here in S.F., when he performed the sixth Mahler. I understand that his upcoming M6 for Arte Nova won't have the electronically enhanced hammer blows.
In conclusion, the Slatikin M5 is the better sounding performance, but the Zinman M6 is definitely a unique novelty. The Zinman set has a Tcahik. 5 with a pretty fast finale, by the way.
Barry
