His Mahler recordings include the Fifth and Sixth Symphonies (with the New Philharmonia) and Ninth Symphony (with the Berlin Philharmonic).

But he made a strong entry into the vastly overcrowded field of Mahler recordings a few years ago with a tense, dramatically assured Fifth Symphony on Chandos.

He collaborated with the LPC by preparing the Tiffin Boys' Choir on the Mahler Eight recording in 1987.

Now, suddenly, interesting Mahler recordings are emanating from Russia, in performances led by Yevgeny Svetlanov and Thomas Sanderling.

But that gap was deliberate: Sedgwick Clark, the set's producer, and Barbara Haws, the Philharmonic's archivist, are saving the orchestra's Mahler recordings for a possible future volume devoted to the composer.

He played solo horn on all my early Mahler recordings - to say nothing of Beethoven, Brahms and the rest - and always magnificently.

It has by far outsold any other Mahler recording, including those by Leonard Bernstein, according to MCA Classics.

Scan the catalogue, and you will find scarcely any Mahler recordings by Russian orchestras or conductors.

Outside the nostalgic context of this package, there would simply be no reason to add Mr. Slatkin's Fifth to the rich catalogue of Mahler recordings.