Pictures at an Exhibition / A Night on Bare Mountain (with Britten - Young Person's guide to the Orchestra)

"Though you clearly have a superlative orchestra showing off its virtuosity, the distinctive point of this reading is that Ozawa never forces the pace or underlines unnecessarily. So the "Tuileries" movement is the more sparkling for not being taken at a breakneck speed, and the same is true of the other movements often used as material for speed-trials. Conversely the "Polish Ox Wagon" does not get stuck in the mud, and the final "Great Gate of Kiev" has shape and movement, not just mass. In short an excellent version still competitive with the best today."
(Gramophone)