Tonight (here.)

Doing Pictures at an Exhibition Moussorgsky-via-Ravel*

(* Wish he could also play the Principal-trumpet parts while Conducting) {{sigh}}
Many recordings extant of his virtuoso trumpet/cornet offerings. Met him backstage in S.F. after he'd traded-in Soloist gigs for conducting.
Still, for him: Onward! and --> Upward Worked then, and nicely-Now :-)

Bottom line: ya can't Eat on that venue :-/
At least I got the chance to Thank him for all the endorphins given all us Brass-types.



My biased review then, if you missed it; links here for DVD or via The Amazon Monster Aggregator, videos at not a steep price, Here.

Conducting and Musicianship:
He IS a Conductor, first of all (groomed by all those soloist years plus the innate Gravitas now so evident) thus ∑: overall this is for me the Definitive goose-bumps-on-arm validated performance* ..Evah.
Never er, histrionic but making the most subtle indicators for the O., as much by face as hands (?) And likely because he has chosen Such Musicians as these: his minimalist direction complements the basic Musicianship of all players. Nothing less than Jungian synchronicity. In Action.
And a thoughtful Intro to both pieces (Prokofiev Romeo and Juliet.)
* for the Ravel-orchestrated version.

Choreography: er (!!)
Along with the Intro brief musical passages, the photography and foci selected all-along: clearly the camera operator(s?) Know the music, the players and where close-ups (can actually Teach.) This excellence can be evaluated via the so-often seemingly-random close-ups** to be found all over many other er, telecasts.
[Brass]Particularly enjoyed the staying-with the piccolo-trumpet for that complete passage. [/Brass.]
Fl(a)utist got her earned share of illuminating close-ups as well. In brief, stunning photog. here.

** maddening when Joe-camera-guy cuts-away for-no-particular reason, to zoom somewhere with no ‘special’ passage being played.

I Know the Mussorgsky. I heard in late ’50s (one of the first few smuggled-in (not verified) performances out of Sovietsy-Russia) and fortunately of: Perhaps the first recording of Sviatoslav Richter performing the original piano-version. Audience was present/some noises; recording quality almost-good (but not up to then-USA grade in these first years of ‘High Fidelity’ well before stereo. It was a {{emotionally}} and technically stellar performance, near-manic at times, such that the few tiny mistakes vanished into nothingness via awareness of ~ what he had just Done.

Dunno the Stravinsky well enough to offer an opinion, but all-of-the-above applies to its performance.

ie. I really Like this orchestra + Conductor, its virtuosity and the overall endorphin-making realization of say, how much each player is Enjoying every note, with full Attention too.