I have been very satisfied with Plasson's recording but there are indeed many other recommendable options.
To those suffering from an overdose of Mahler, Bruckner or Shostakovich might I recommend the solitary Symphony by Ernest Chausson as an alternative breath of fresh air to those who don't know it ?
Chausson was a composer who was very self-critical and revised his scores over long periods; as he was quite wealthy and didn't have to worry about earning an income from his work he was able to indulge himself in this respect more than many other composers but the result was that his output was quite small and some people find his music worked-over to excess - a view that I do not share however.
Chausson appears to have suffered from a depressive personality trait and it's suspected that the fatal accident when he crashed his bicycle (he was a keen cyclist) headlong into a wall was a deliberate act on Chausson's part. This trait is noticeable in his music and his use of chromaticism (derived from his teacher Cesar Franck but also from Wagner) often imparts a sense of unfulfilled longing and pantheism to the music ; the lovely Poeme for violin and orchestra could almost be mistaken for a work by Delius. But there's also a vigorous, open-air quality to the music of parts of the symphony. I noticed that , for some of the seafaring scenes of "The Onedin Line" excerpts from the symphony were used as background music.
I don't tire of this symphony and have acquired about a dozen recorded versions over the years. I don't think any of them are completely unrecommendable and names like Munch, Paray and Ansermet ensure that the performances are headed by conductors in tune with the style of the music. I don't know if it's still generally available but a double Decca album includes not only the symphony but also the Poeme and the lovely Concert for Violin, Piano and string quartet - a good collection to have as a starting-point for anybody wishing to get to know Chausson's music.
As might be expected there are various versions of the symphony available on YouTube so, if you wish, you can try before you buy.
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