Welp, I found a revelatory Pictures as close to ideal as there might ever be. I don't know why I'm surprised by the source, but I am. It's not with a particularly distinguished orchestra, and he was only 32 here!
I don't know how anybody else can possibly be the greatest living conductor. I just don't know. This is what Kirill Peternko would be if he relaxed, this is what Simon Rattle would be if he disciplined himself, it's what Manfred Honeck would be if he let go of the bombast, it's what Ivan Fischer would be if he allowed himself more drama. It's musicmaking so full of personality and insight, yet of the personality of the animating musician we have no idea.
A better orchestra would sound more organ-like in the first Promenade, but listen to how he gets it to sound like a church chorale. Listen to how he gets the glissandos in Gnomus to go before the beat so that you can hear them against the melody, listen to the gorgeously warm pianos of the Old Castle with winds perfectly balanced against the espressivo strings, listen to the glottals on the wind instruments in the Tullieries and how he gets the flute to play staccatos against the oboe's legato, listen to the perfect amount of rubato in the second subject - not too much, not too little. Listen to the crescendo in Bydlo building from the distance - paced neither too slow nor too fast, with instrumental details piling one-by-one to create the impression of sad people on a rickety cart. The chirping winds in the Ballad of the Unhatched Chicks that sound perfectly and ugily aviary at piano and top speed. The pomp of Samuel Goldenberg during the Two Jews section, and while the trumpet solo for Shmuyleh could use a bit more 'antisemitic obnoxiousness', the trumpeter actually plays the correct rhythm!!! The Market at Limoges is slower than usual, but we hear so much more detail than usual because it doesn't flash by in its usual whirr. Perhaps the one weakness is the understated Catacombs, which is insufficiently terrifying. To make its proper impact, Catacombs is about overtones, it imitates the echo one gets when shouting in caves, and yet Cum Mortois in Lingua Morta is the perfect mixture of tragic and creepy. And yet the understatement of Catacombs pays off with a spectacular Hut on Fowl's Legs full of fireworks (that bass drum...), with brass that play truly staccato and still you can hear the modal harmonies loud and clear, and perhaps the most characterful, creepy bassoon solo in the central section ever captured by record.
And then there's the Great Gate of Kiev (Kyiv). There is no finer rendition on disc - not bombast, but detail. Listen to the way Stenz subdues the beginning so that it can EXPLODE in the second statement. The perfect organ quietude of the second subject's modal chorale (what key is that chorale btw???), the perfect balanced bells and gong and percussion... it's not the loudest or most sentimental, but it is so perfectly Russian.
One can otherwise imagine a more Russian performance, a more French performance, a more virtuoso performance, but no version is more insightful, characterful, musical. Pay attention to regional, local orchestras. They know that they're not quite the world's best, so they work just as hard as the big ones, if not harder; and are far less cynical and far more willing to acceed to a great conductor's requests. This is music, pure music.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hdNgCekkdoI&list=OLAK5uy_lf-08tmoZ-FMrJcqK4E-AaLg4YOuwA8Ik&index=2&fbclid=IwAR3J5Xm7Sci5MK4VAV_RC3IBR_YMT4BGmha4RlU4UzeAe34mLjq5kfPaqkI
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