Leonard Bernstein, New York Philharmonic, The Collegiale Chorale - Gustav Mahler: Symphony No. 2 "Resurrection" (2007) [SACD]

Leonard Bernstein’s first complete cycle of the Mahler symphonies, in the Japanese stereo/multichannel releases of what were originally 3-channel recordings.
Mahler’s 2nd Symphony shows the composer advancing into the Wunderhorn symphonies, three works based in part on the series of poems Das Knaben Wunderhorn, some of which Mahler had already adapted into lieder. While the first symphony is in some ways an outlier in terms of style, the second shows Mahler’s mature cycle in full bloom. The piece is structured in five movements, opening with a first movement that was originally a tone poem entitled Totenfeier (“funeral rites”), and two more orchestral movements, including a third-movement scherzo that many (including his student Bruno Walter) consider among his finest. The fourth movement Urlicht (“primal light’) is a short delicate work for female voice, followed by the massive final movement, where the orchestra is joined by the soloists, full chorus, offstage instruments, and at the end an organ, as the hero is resurrected in a blaze of glory. While not Mahler’s largest work in either ensemble size (that would be the 8th, the “Symphony of a Thousand”), or in terms of length (that would be the following work, the 3rd Symphony), it is in many ways Mahler’s most powerful work, which accounts for it being among his most popular to this day.
The 2nd was a favorite of Bernstein’s, and he conducted it many times, with this being his first recording of the work. In addition to his second official recording as part of his early digital cycle for Deutsche Grammophon in the 1980s, there is a video-recorded cycle, and a good number of bootlegs of his various live performances. But this one is the best combination of sound and performance.
If you want Bernstein on Mahler, there’s no better place than his televised “Young People’s Concert” on Mahler.
Musicweb has a comprehensive review of the entire cycle in the DSD remastering (but on RBCD)