Yevgeny Mravinsky rehearsed indefatigably and remorsely with the individual sections of the orchestra, kicking out anyone who did not meet his expectations and replacing him with the best. In the concert hall, Mravinsky was able to apply in technically perfect and precise manner his extremely finely graduated dynamic range, immense palette of tone colors and volcanic outbursts. He never gesticulated wildly and often did not even use a baton. His Philharmonic Orchestra coule measure itself with the best in the world. Mravinsky recorded in studioes from 1938 to 1961. His interpretations of Tchaikovsky set standards that hold to this day and his Shostakovich performances enjoy the intimate authority of the connoisseur, but he was also altogether at home in the standard Classical and Romantic repertoires. Only live recordings of Mravsinky's concerts exist after 1961 - and they document a great musician. Mravinsky was, in the words of music commentator Norman Lebrecht, "the most capable of all Soviet conductors".