Favorite Telarc releases.....

Lorin Maazel and Cleveland Orchestra Shostakovich 5th is way way fun on Telarc.
Rachmaninov with Horacio Guitierez also with Lorin is also another favorite of mine. Lorin makes classical fun and a bit funky. He seems to understand rhythm and pace better than most. I don't like Eric Kunzel at all - brash and plain loud but without any good rhythms - seems to lack feeling to me - sounds like they use a metronome...

Mahler is heavy stuff but if you want some good CD's get the set by Benjamin Zander with Boston Philharmonic - I got my set straight from him and it has an extra CD with explanations or walk through about the interpretation - great if you want to dig deeper. Zander has good feeling - time will tell but I think it is a great interpretation.

If you are looking at Telarc you should also look at "Living Stereo" from the old mercury stuff - similar recording techniques.

My personal CD favorites are:
Copland: Appalachian Spring, Rodeo, Fanfare for the Common Man. Louis Lane & Atlanta Sym. Orch.

Mahler: Sym. 1 "Titan", Leonard Slatkin, St.Louis Sym. Orch.

Respighi: Pines Of Rome, The Birds & Fountains of Rome. Louis Lane & Atlanta Sym. Orch.

Telarc also has a great sampler titled: Winter, Spring, Summer and Autumn which is worth the price.

The Boston-Zanders are not on Telarc but I recommend both his Boston recordings (Le Sacre is a blast!) and his Telarc Mahlers/Beethovens highly.

Kal

Brahms' "Ein Deutsches Requiem" with Robert Shaw and Atlanta on Telarc is a definitive recording in so many respects - especially with regards to the choral performance. Also, Arleen Augér was one of my very favorite sopranos, and her performance on this recording is IMO one of the highlights of her career.

Oh and the sound quality is typically Telarc - very dynamic and detailled, perhaps a hair on the bright side. I have both the CD and the LP set . . . and I (blasphomer!) prefer the CD. This work has such loud, dynamic passages at the ends of movements, and in mastering the LPs have some noticible dynamic compression applied towards the inner grooves.

Since you left music type open,may I mention Ray Brown,'Live at Scullers',and'Don't Get Sassy'.