ClassicsToday上对DG的评价，还是老熟人David Hurwitz：
For a collection of almost complete Mahler (as with the EMI box, Die Drei Pintos--the complete opera--is missing since the only complete recordings are the excellent RCA and the so-so Naxos) this DG set is generally well-thought-out but certainly not ideal. Aside from the opera, Mahler's Bach Suite is omitted (a mistake there, since Chailly recorded it superbly), as are his arrangements and rescorings of works by other composers. This is a pity: his Schubert and Beethoven quartet transcriptions for full string orchestra deserve to be here. There are also some curious choices that easily could have been improved upon, given the range of options available from the Universal catalog. So let's consider the individual selections briefly.
Symphonies: Kubelik's No. 1 is a classic and an obvious first choice, despite strong competition from Bernstein, Boulez, Solti, Ozawa, and Chailly (though we do get Ozawa's Blumine). The Mehta/Vienna "Resurrection" likewise is an excellent version, though not better than Bernstein's. We also get the not terribly exciting Boulez Totenfeier, for completeness' sake if for no other reason. Haitink's first recording of the Mahler Third, with the Concertgebouw and Maureen Forrester, is one of the great ones (his Berlin remake was a disaster), while the Boulez/Cleveland Fourth also finds these forces at their best. The Bernstein/Vienna Fifth isn't just a great performance, it's also very well recorded (it was made in Frankfurt, not in Vienna). Then we hit a bump in the road.
Abbado's Berlin Mahler Sixth (Andante before Scherzo) is a light, shallow performance audibly inferior to his first, Chicago recording (never mind Bernstein's magnificent Vienna version). Sinopoli's Seventh is dreary, dull, and in the finale sloppily played. Had DG chosen the Sinopoli Fifth and Bernstein's Seventh, then this set would have been measurably improved. It also would have rectified the one scandalous and really inexcusable omission: the absence of the New York Philharmonic, one of the three historically most important and idiomatic "Mahler orchestras" (the others being the Czech Philharmonic and the Amsterdam Concertgebouw). Of course, Solti's Mahler Eighth also is a reference recording, especially for the superb singing, as is Karajan's live Ninth. Chailly's complete Tenth (Cooke version) probably is the best available, and his Das Klagende Lied isn't far behind.
Turning to the songs, the Giulini/Fassbaender/Araiza Das Lied von der Erde is very good, but Haitink/King/Baker should have been the version of choice. Abbado's Des Knaben Wunderhorn, with Otter and Quasthoff, sounds just as characterless now as it did when it was issued (Chailly is infinitely superior), while the Hampson/Bernstein recording of the three major song sets (Wayfarer, Dead Kids, and Rückert) isn't as good as it should have been, largely due to Hampson. He bills himself as a Mahler authority, and maybe he is, but he's not a great Mahler singer, which is more to the point. Just compare this to Haitink/Prey in the Wayfarer songs and Kindertotenlieder. The early songs are presented with some in their original piano versions and others as orchestrated by different hands, a creative and very enjoyable idea.
Sonics, obviously, are variable, but certainly decent enough given the different recording dates and venues. This is a very good set for the most part, but it could have been (should have been) the best selection possible, and it's not quite. What's more, this still could have been achieved maintaining the "one conductor per numbered symphony" concept, and including the New York Philharmonic in the process (the Bernstein Seventh). Compared to EMI's rival set, this one is generally stronger in the symphonies, while EMI has the edge in the songs and Das Lied von der Erde. In the symphonies alone, neither supersedes the best complete symphony cycles for these same labels (Bernstein for DG, Chailly for Decca, and Bertini for EMI). At the price, though, this is still a good deal, and a reasonable way for newcomers to get almost all of Mahler in one highly diverse shot.
