Bernstein and Russian music

I have been listening to Leonard Bernstein conducting Shostakovich - 5th, 6th and 7th symphonies. Bernstein is not my favourite conductor - as with others I find his excessive emphasis on individual points and moments distorts the structure and overall impact of a considerable amount of music. However his Shostakovich is excellent - and his recording of the 5th symphony was admired by the composer. Bernstein is, to my mind, also an excellent conductor of Tchaikovsky. So its seems a new point - Bernstein as a very good conductor of Russian music.