I finally acquired the Ormandy/PO/RCA, arguably the very first recording of this music in the States. To my surprise, this Babi Yar is quite slow, weighty and overly somber. Sometimes the tempo was so slow that I felt I was lost, especially in the first movt. But there's no denying this is a powerful reading with lots of emphasis on bass lines. Still, IMO no one beats Mark Wigglesworth in bringing out all the drama and inner logic so consistently and convincingly; just listen to the first climax in I. where the whole brass section roars out the aggressive, menacing rhythms in unison (which soon leads to the main climax). Here, most conductors just let the brass starts off out of nowhere diminishing the continuity and flow of the music. But by carefully gauging the temporal and dynamic scalings of the passage against what preceded and will follow, Wigglesworth not only is able to keep the flow intact but also enhance the overall structure and increase the impact of this gigantic and the most important (of the five) movt. of the symphony. It is really an impressive interpretation. As for the sound, it again beats them all, awesome and jaw-dropping (in 5CH SACD).
John,
