Words: personal, adj.

Christopher Hawtree

DAVID MELLOR'S adumbrations upon Mahler's Fifth led, convincingly, to his plumping for Lenny and the Vienna Philharmonic in 1986 (still full- price), with an honourable mention for Klaus Tennstedt, who was "a personal friend". Mellor should stick with friends, acquaintances and lovers: that tautology is pervasive, as in railway guards' recent, airline-like reminder that "customers" should take all their "personal belongings" at the next "station stop" - rather than leap out midway with somebody else's stuff.

Meanwhile, I steel myself to hear a recent disc not mentioned by Mellor: David Briggs's version of Mahler's Fifth for the organ at Gloucester Cathedral. And why not? Mahler made piano-rolls of other symphonies - preferable to the Boulez discs.