Pictures At An Exhibition CD

The best recording in my view is also one of the more primitive recordings going back to 1958 in Sofia, the pianist Sviatoslav Richter. There may be more pleasingly recorded versions I am not sure there is a better played version. Also available on vinyl.
Would also recommend Brendel in a 1960's recording. Usually not a fan of his but in the 60's and 70's I really like his recordings.

If you are talking about the orchestrated version then the RCA Reiner and the Chicago Symphony is a great recording. For the original piano version Richter is powerful

Thanks. Sorry. Forgot to designate the orchestrated version, although I'm not averse to the piano version.

For the orchestrated version, I agree that the Reiner/Chicago version is one of the best and the standard all others are compared to. For the piano version, I prefer the version by Byron Janis on Mercury. The recording is a little thin sounding but very listenable. This disc also has the orchestrated version by Dorati and the Minnesota Orchestra so you get both for one price. I have the Richter/Sofia version and I find the recording is almost unlistenable although the performance is fine. I also have the piano version by Evgeny Kissin. This is a much more modern sounding recording but a slightly different interpretation of the piece.

Reiner/Chicago on RCA Living Stereo SACD.

Kal