As far as Mahler is concerned, the Fourth is, as Ralph suggests, a good way in and I'd second his recommendation of Jascha Horenstein's recording. The more recent version conducted by Semyon Bychkov is also very good and is in more up to date sound. The First symphony would also be a good starting point: the recording conducted by Yannick Nezet-Seguin is excellent. A third option is the Fifth. Try Leonard Bernstein's live DG recording with the Vienna Philharmonic; it's Bernstein at his charismatic best.
Ralph has already pointed you in the direction of his article abut Bruckner symphonies. A few years ago, my colleague Patrick Waller and I put together a list of personal recommendations of recordings of each symphony. You can find our most recent (2020) update at https://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2020/May/Bruckner_symphonies_revisited.pdf I'd suggest that the best way in for Bruckner symphonies would be either the Fourth or the Seventh.
For both composers can I recommend our Masterworks Index? There's one for each composer and within the Index you'll find links to many MusicWeb reviews of symphonies by them. If you've not used these Indices before, go to our home page and click on "MWI Indexes" to bring up the drop down menu that will take you there.
Good luck. I'm sure that once you're 'in' you'll find the exploration of both composers very rewarding.
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