Three interesting reissue sets have shown up recently, all worthwhile for collectors (but I am saving the best, in my opinion, for last).

Karl-Heinz Steffens Karl-Heinz Steffens. Photo © Susanne Diesner

First of all, SWR Classic have collected together all the Mahler recordings by the cult favourite German conductor Hans Rosbaud (1895-1962). Mahler was a specialty of Rosbaud at a time when few orchestras were playing his music. Between 1951 and 1961, Rosbaud recorded Symphony No 5 with the Köln Radio Symphony Orchestra, and Nos 1, 4, 6, 7, 9 and Das Lied von der Erdewith his regular band, the Südwestfunkorchester Baden-Baden. The latter was one of the great radio orchestras, under Rosbaud and Ernest Bour. The Fifth Symphony from Köln is the only live concert here; the SWR recordings are studio sessions, but Rosbaud was not one...