I think that you are being hard on the Budapest Festival Orchestra. I am not claiming that it can equal Chicago or Vienna , etc.,for lung power, and I thought I made that pretty clear. What they have done, however, remarkably well, is create a MittelEuropa type of sound, that may have been what the finest Orchestras that weren’t Berlin or Vienna may have sounded like in Mahler’s day (and let’s not forget that GM worked quite a bit in the Hungarian Capital).
If you wish to limit your listening to “how the very top Orchestras perform these works” be my guest. To imply that the Budapest is some kind of semi pro outfit that is out of their depth, however, is engaging in hyperbole. I agree that the Fisher /Budapest Ninth isn’t competitive, as a performance with the very best, nor have I heard any Mahler recording by them that displaces any of my favorites.
This isn’t because the Budapest cycle is bad, but because the bar is so incredibly high. Look how many Mahler recordings are out there! Most of the greatest Conductors of the last 50 years are represented, along with quite a few “Who?” What the Channel Classic recordings, are, however, are the most realistic reproduction of how the actual Orchestra sounds that I am personally familiar with. They represent a fine Orchestra faithfully reproduced. The performances are at worst passable.
