Hi Barry

Ralph is of course very modest, even if he has unintentionally insinuated that Clint Eastwood would think I am a bad man for not knowing my limits. Many would probably agree with him.

You may be interested to know that one of the works on your list, Mahler's Seventh Symphony, has had it's own survey here:

https://musicwebinternational.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Mahler-sy7-survey-LD.pdf

I cannot promise it matches the high standards of Ralph, but it is fairly comprehensive, with the caveat that I suspect the new Rattle/Bav RSO release may well have made the final recommendations had it been available when published:

An alternative survey on the Mahler VII can also been found here on MWI:

https://www.musicweb-international.com/mahler/mahler7.htm

The Mahler Seventh Survey took two years to complete - there are that many recordings ! So you may also be pleased to note others on Mahler Symphony 1 ( https://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2022/Feb/Mahler-sy1-survey-LD.pdf), as well as Bruckner's Symphony No 8 (here: https://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2020/May/Bruckner_sy8_survey.pdf ).

I am aiming to have a similar survey on the Mahler VIII completed by December this year, although am toying with the idea of completing a further one on Shostakovich's Symphony No 4, to reflect that composer's centenary year in 2025. The problem, as always, is time - running a business, being part of a family with young(ish) boys are all time-consuming activities which distract from the main event! So if anybody has a preference for which of the Mahler VIII or the Shostakovich IV for this year, then do let me know, as finishing both over the next 6 months will be impossible.

Best wishes,

Lee