Haitink Mahler 5 on DECCA Pure Analog


Almost bought this but figured I ask if anyone has heard this reissue. 

From product notes…

For this release Rainer Maillard at Emil Berliner Studios has used the original, four-track quadraphonic master tape to make a new stereo mix sent directly to the cutter head. This preserves a pure analogue path throughout. The Philips engineers of the 1970s would similarly have mixed the four front and rear channels before cutting but this downmix would have resulted in a two-track stereo copy for mastering, whereas here the lacquer is cut directly from a ’live’ mix into stereo from the four Quad channels.
 

Any feedback on the quality of recording and vinyl?

audphile1

Well we disagree there.  The Barbirolli is my all time worst ever Mahler recording.  It seems interminable.  I rather like the Haitink 

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That’s what makes it so incredible @mahler123 

the choices we have for different interpretations is one of the most amazing things with classical music. There’s always a version of these popular works that will suit your soul 

I’d be interested to get your take on Gary Bertini. His Mahler box set is excellent, at least to me

@audphile1 

I put on Barbirolli and it’s day and night

Yes, Barbirolli for me.  Recorded at Watford Town Hall in 1969 with the New Philharmonia Orchestra it was originally released in stereo vinyl by His Master's Voice.  EMI later released in on CD as one of the Great Recordings of the Century, remastered in 1998 by EMI.

Now Warner has its hands on it and has issued it on CD as remastered in 2020 by Parlophone Records.

I started my collection of Mahler 5 with Klaus Tennstedt and the London Philharmonic Orchestra, but for me Barbirolli blows it away.

I used to be guided by reviews in the Gramophone magazine. When important new recordings came out, they would often be compared with several previous recordings.  Over time, the best of these would percolate to the top of my consciousness.

Of course, the individual reviewers had their own views and no single 'best' interpreter emerged for all Mahler symphonies.  Shostakovich had major divergencies too. 

 

Gramophone tends to have a bias towards British performances, but I agree Barbirolli’s Mahler 5th is my favorite version.