Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, Eliahu Inbal - Mahler: Symphony No. 5 (1986) CD-Rip

Another excellent performance in what is one of the best complete Gustav Mahler cycles. Eliahu Inbal's performances have gotten somewhat lost in the shuffle, with so many new Mahler recordings coming out every year. Judging from the competition, the Fifth seems to be one of the most difficult of the symphonies to conduct, and it's a measure of Inbal's identification with the composer that this is one of his most successful performances. The orchestra, brass in particular, really digs into the music, and Inbal paces both the tricky central Scherzo and the famous Adagietto just about perfectly. Denon's sound in this series consistently outclasses most of the competition. --David Hurwitz