I'm a Mahler fanatic, which makes this question doubly hard to answer.
My absolute favorite Mahler symphony is the 9th. It is very personal and beautiful, but lengthy and maybe not the best "starter".
#1 and #4 are more accessible as "starters". But they'll leave you begging for more. I you like symphonies with big choral additions, #2 would be a great intro to Mahler's style in that vein - lots of fireworks!
Look for any Leonard Bernstein recording on vinyl. The Deutsche Grammaphon series sounds very nice.
My absolute favorite Mahler symphony is the 9th. It is very personal and beautiful, but lengthy and maybe not the best "starter".
#1 and #4 are more accessible as "starters". But they'll leave you begging for more. I you like symphonies with big choral additions, #2 would be a great intro to Mahler's style in that vein - lots of fireworks!
Look for any Leonard Bernstein recording on vinyl. The Deutsche Grammaphon series sounds very nice.