What is a good intro to "Mahler"?

Perhaps you should rethink your position re the music. My CD and my vinyl rigs are both into the five figures and I have many analog-CD duplicates so I think I have a least a basis for my comments.

The difference in sound between CD and analog is non existant compared to sound at the 50+ live Mahler performances I've heard over the years with the world's best orchestras and conductors.

I don't stop listening to recordings just because of the sonic gulf such that no recording is even comparable to well done live Mahler. If I did I would have missed hundreds of musically satisfying recorded performances. By listening only to analog you will be missing many superbly musical performances.

FWIW, i have an excellent (by any standard) LP and CDP set up. As time goes on i find myself listening more to music in my CD collection than the LP's. Everytime i put on an LP i have to do that audiophile ritual of cleaning etc the result is that i then try to justify what i'm doing by critiqueing the "sound" which takes my attention away from the performance itself. with CD's i just select what i want to hear and put it on, sit back and enjoy. I'll admit it didn't happen over night but i'm glad it did. Now the only LP's i listen to are the ones i select for the performance itself. The trick is in finding a CDP that does it for you, sonically speaking. One of the driving forces for me it doing the is the lack of software available for me on LP's, the Mahler situation is just a small example. Hope you find some middle ground.

"Good day. May I please introduce you to Mr Mahler?"

You both make good points, particularly from the standpoint of experience. Speaking with "new-comer's optimism," I'm sure my position will change in time. And you're right, it makes no sense to limit exposure to music due to format prejudice. I'll continue looking for new material, with an emphasis on music.

Wow, this Super Analogue is Super Bassy! It's too bad, it would have been a good recording otherwise. I wonder how they spent so much in the recording process and overlooked this?