Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

[hint: for ease of navigation, read the review though to the end, then come back and click on the links.] The CBS Bernstein/NYPO Mahler cycle on CD, Four different remasterings: -- 1) 1980s: Full-price CBS CDs = individual CDs, not in a box. -- 2) 1992: "Royal Edition" = individual CDs, not in a box. I don't know who did the remastering. -- 3) 2001: "Bernstein Century Edition" = individual CDs, also released in a box: Mahler: The Complete Symphonies ~ Bernstein, remastering engineers: Charles Harbutt, Ellen Fitton, Miguel Kertsman, maybe others. -- 4a) 2009: "Carnegie Hall Presents" - Mahler: Complete Symphonies (Carnegie Hall Presents), remastered by Andreas K. Meyer -- 4b) 2012: The box under discussion, this is an "original jacket" reissue of the 2009 remastering by Andreas K. Meyer. Critical consensus is that the Andreas K. Meyer remastering (24-bit/96kHz) is an enormous improvement over the first three. It was originally prepared for SACD release, but those Japanese SACDs are very expensive - in the Amazon search bar look up "Bernstein Mahler SACD" Meyer's CD remastering is available in version 4a or 4b. There is a slight difference in contents: -- 4a) The 2009 "Carnegie Hall Presents" version included the audio documentary "Gustav Mahler Remembered" and Das Lied von der Erde. -- 4b) The 2013 box (reviewed on this page) omitted those two, but added Janet Baker's 1975 Kindertotenlieder. Advantage 4a (2009) = "Gustav Mahler Remembered" (48 minutes) is a very well-done documentary (a 22 minute version can be found in the Kaplan Mahler Edition - see below). Alternatively, the 48 minute version is also on YouTube. See my comment dated July 13, 2015 for the web link. (Meyer's CD remastering of Das Lied von der Erde is available separately at low cost.) Advantage 4b (2013) = Less expensive, and packaged in "original jacket" format for the first time. Attractive and nostalgic for geezers like me. (plus Meyer's remastering of Janet Baker's 1975 Kindertotenlieder is very expensive outside of box 4b.) Disadvantage 4b (2013) = No texts or translations for Symphonies 2, 3 and 8 in the 32 page booklet (the "Carnegie Hall Edition" has them). This may not matter for experienced Mahler collectors. Texts and translations for Symphony 4 and Kindertotenlieder are on the back of the "original jacket" in fine print (Kindertotenlieder is on the jacket for Symphony 5). The additional works are available separately: -- "Gustav Mahler Remembered" Documentary by William Malloch. There is a 22 minute version of this documentary in: The Kaplan Mahler Edition: Symphony No. 2 in C minor- Resurrection If you don't already have it, The Kaplan Mahler Edition is an indispensible purchase (cheap too). Not just for the performances, but for all the extra stuff that comes with it. The 48 minute version is on YouTube. See my comment dated July 13, 2015 for the web link. The absolutely unabridged version of "Gustav Mahler Remembered" is 106 minutes, 28 seconds - in New York Philharmonic: The Mahler Broadcasts 1948-1982 . -- The Andreas K. Meyer remastering of Das Lied von der Erde was reissued in 2010 as an inexpensive single CD: Mahler: Das Lied Von Der Erde -- Meyer's remastering of Janet Baker's 1975 Kindertotenlieder on SACD: Mahler: Symphony No.10-Adagio & Kinde (expensive) P.S. Andreas K. Meyer is not finished working his remastering magic on Bernstein's CBS legacy. He is also responsible for the new Bernstein Sibelius edition: Bernstein Sibelius - Remastered