Regarding Haitink/CSO, I live in Chicago and was present at some of the concerts from which the aforementioned recordings were made. My favorite Haitink/CSO Mahler concert was the First, and for some reason I never acquired the recording that was issued, because I don’t think it could match the experience of that night.
I was a bit disappointed with the recording of the Third, which as I foreshadowed above, dulled the memory of a fine evening in the Hall. To me the sound of the recording is a bit dry in places, and not consistent with my aural memory of the evening. Curiously I don’t feel that way about the Haitink/CSO Sixth, but otoh the Sixth doesn’t really play to Haitink’s strengths (his Amsterdam recording is relatively blah, but his Amsterdam cycle on BluRay is a sonic treat).
I was a bit disappointed with the recording of the Third, which as I foreshadowed above, dulled the memory of a fine evening in the Hall. To me the sound of the recording is a bit dry in places, and not consistent with my aural memory of the evening. Curiously I don’t feel that way about the Haitink/CSO Sixth, but otoh the Sixth doesn’t really play to Haitink’s strengths (his Amsterdam recording is relatively blah, but his Amsterdam cycle on BluRay is a sonic treat).