OK, here's a Mussorgsky thread for all you Mussorgsky lovers ..........
Songs and Dances of Death, esp. in the Shostakovich arrangement.
Doesn't get much beneather the green lemon than that! 0:)
Agreed that the Shostakovich is the pick of the orchestrations of Songs and Dances of Death.
I also wouldn't want to be without the song cycle Without Sun.
Quote from: karlhenning on May 25, 2007, 05:58:02 AM
Songs and Dances of Death, esp. in the Shostakovich arrangement.
Doesn't get much beneather the green lemon than that! 0:)
Love the SADOD (
Songs and Dances of Death) .......
Sunless is exquisite, too. Although for long I knew Musorgsky only from Pictures (and that, to be sure, in Ravel's orchestration), and though I still enjoy Pictures, it's these vocal cycles I return to most frequently.
At some point, I will need a recording of Boris. I saw it staged some three times while I was overseas.
One of my favorite Mussorgsky discs is this one with Abbado and Berlin, that includes a real rarity, St. John's Night on the Bare Mountain. While it bears some resemblance to the much more familiar Night on Bald Mountain, especially in the opening, this version uses a full chorus and later passages are substantially different. The rest of the CD has selected scenes from Khovanshchina, also very beautifully done.
(http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/I/51IDoCF10dL._AA240_.jpg)
--Bruce
Quote from: bhodges on May 25, 2007, 06:25:03 AM
. . . a real rarity, St. John's Night on the Bare Mountain. While it bears some resemblance to the much more familiar Night on Bald Mountain, especially in the opening, this version uses a full chorus and later passages are substantially different.
Although, I suspect that the word in Russian is the same, and that the various translations (Bare/Bald) don't bear that textual difference between the scores (just a note),
Bruce.
Wasn't the concert-piece an extract from the (unfinished, wasn't it?) opera
Sorochintsy Fair? So (I am guessing) this rarity is 'more of a bleeding chunk'? :-)
Quote from: karlhenning on May 25, 2007, 06:30:43 AM
Wasn't the concert-piece an extract from the (unfinished, wasn't it?) opera Sorochintsy Fair? So (I am guessing) this rarity is 'more of a bleeding chunk'? :-)
Ah, found it! Here is the complete track list on Sony. (http://www.sonyclassical.com/music/62034/index.html)
--Bruce
That certainly looks like one cool platter, Brucey! 8)
From Ikipedia:
A Night on Bald Mountain usually refers to one of two compositions – either a seldom performed early (1867) 'musical picture' by Modest Mussorgsky, St. John's Night on the Bare Mountain (Russian: Иванова ночь на лысой горе, Ivanova noch' na lïsoy gore), or a later (1886) and very popular 'fantasy for orchestra' by Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov, A Night on the Bare Mountain (Russian: Ночь на лысой горе, Noch' na lïsoy gore), based almost entirely on Mussorgsky's themes.
Nikolay Rimsky-KorsakovInspired by Russian literary works and legend, Mussorgsky made a witches' sabbath the theme of the original tone poem, completed on June 23rd, 1867 (St. John's Eve). St. John's Night on the Bare Mountain and Rimsky-Korsakov's 'musical picture' Sadko (also composed in 1867) share the distinction of being the first tone poems by Russian composers.
As with so much of Mussorgsky's music, the work had a tortuous compositional history and was arranged after his death in 1881 by his friend and fellow member of the Mighty Handful Rimsky-Korsakov. It was never performed in any form during Mussorgsky's lifetime. The Rimsky-Korsakov edition premiered in 1886, and has become a concert favorite.
Note on the title: The Russian word «лысая» (lïsaya) literally means "bald", but is used in this case figuratively for a mountain supposedly barren of trees. Therefore, most experts officially title the piece A Night on the Bare Mountain, even if they commonly refer to it as Night on Bald Mountain.
Quote from: Ikipedia
St. John's Night on the Bare Mountain and Rimsky-Korsakov's 'musical picture' Sadko (also composed in 1867) share the distinction of being the first tone poems by Russian composers.
Sounds almost as though the people contributing to that article never heard of
Glinka, eh? 8)
Quote from: karlhenning on May 25, 2007, 08:00:49 AM
Sounds almost as though the people contributing to that article never heard of Glinka, eh? 8)
What tone poem(s) did Glinka compose?
Quote from: D Minor on May 25, 2007, 08:03:59 AM
What tone poem(s) did Glinka compose?
Even Ikipedia states:
Quote from: IkipediaOutside Russia several of Glinka's orchestral works have been fairly popular in concerts and recordings. Besides the well-known overtures to the operas (especially the brilliantly energetic overture to Ruslan), his major orchestral works include the symphonic poem Kamarinskaya (1848), based on Russian folk tunes, and two Spanish works, A Night in Madrid (1848, 1851) and Jota Aragonesa (1845).
[bold-face emphasis above mine.]I'm also inclined to consider
Night and
Jota tone-poems.
Quote from: karlhenning on May 25, 2007, 08:09:29 AM
Even Ikipedia states:
Outside Russia several of Glinka's orchestral works have been fairly popular in concerts and recordings. Besides the well-known overtures to the operas (especially the brilliantly energetic overture to Ruslan), his major orchestral works include the symphonic poem Kamarinskaya (1848), based on Russian folk tunes, and two Spanish works, A Night in Madrid (1848, 1851) and Jota Aragonesa (1845).
[bold-face emphasis above mine.]
I'm also inclined to consider Night and Jota tone-poems.
(http://www.motleycrow.com/ImageHost/spock_fascinating2.jpg)
So Kamarinskaya is what started it all ...........
That fateful meeting between Glinka and Berlioz . . . .
I'm totally ignorant of Mussorgsky's music, except for Pictures at an Exhibition (which I very much enjoy, except for the lousy lyrics, of course)
What other Works would you guys recommend?
Thanks in advance.
Mussorgsky is largely responsible for getting me interested in classical music. (J.S. Bach is the other culprit.) When I was a child, I was fascinated by Night on Bare Mountain and Pictures at an Exhibition. I had the following LP:
(http://www.xmission.com/~dh/forum_images/VCS2659.jpg)
On this recording, Night on Bare Mountain is arranged by Rene Leibowitz, and Pictures at an Exhibition is the Ravel orchestration. The record eventually got destroyed (children are hard on such things), but I recently found a good copy of it. I still need to copy it to CD.
After all these years, I still enjoy these pieces, and I have collected many recordings of them.
Heather
Quote from: Heather Harrison on May 25, 2007, 04:56:25 PM
Mussorgsky is largely responsible for getting me interested in classical music. (J.S. Bach is the other culprit.) When I was a child, I was fascinated by Night on Bare Mountain and Pictures at an Exhibition. I had the following LP:
(http://www.xmission.com/~dh/forum_images/VCS2659.jpg)
On this recording, Night on Bare Mountain is arranged by Rene Leibowitz, and Pictures at an Exhibition is the Ravel orchestration. The record eventually got destroyed (children are hard on such things), but I recently found a good copy of it. I still need to copy it to CD.
After all these years, I still enjoy these pieces, and I have collected many recordings of them.
Heather
You copy your lp's to disc? If so what kind of equipment are you using. Does it take a considerable amount of time? Burning from disc to disc takes very little time. I have been contemplating this for quite awhile...It just seems like a huge task.....
Quote from: Iconito on May 25, 2007, 01:59:42 PM
I'm totally ignorant of Mussorgsky's music, except for Pictures at an Exhibition (which I very much enjoy, except for the lousy lyrics, of course)
What other Works would you guys recommend?
Thanks in advance.
An answer will be forthcoming on Tuesday morning ........
Quote from: Iconito on May 25, 2007, 01:59:42 PMI'm totally ignorant of Mussorgsky's music, except for Pictures at an Exhibition (which I very much enjoy, except for the lousy lyrics, of course)
What other Works would you guys recommend?
I guess that depends on whether you dislike vocal works in general ;), because the piece I enjoy the most, and would recommend, is
Boris Godunov an opera.
(http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/I/61PX2CEZB2L._SS500_.jpg)
Quote from: Robert on May 26, 2007, 10:51:57 AM
You copy your lp's to disc? If so what kind of equipment are you using. Does it take a considerable amount of time? Burning from disc to disc takes very little time. I have been contemplating this for quite awhile...It just seems like a huge task.....
It does take time, so I only do it for certain LPs. I used to have a friend do it, as he had better equipment. However, I recently got a Mac and some software which should work for this, and when I get around to it, this LP will be the first one that I copy.
Heather
What was the original question? Was there one? Well, in any case - the songs are the Mussorgsky I listen to most of all, particularly the two song cycles already mentioned, and above all Sunless, which is a flawless set of gems, Mussorgsky at both his most introverted and his most audacious [in fact, I think I will put it on right now]. Boris, of course, is fantastic, surely Mussorgsky's greatest work, but in Sunless and the Songs and Dances of Death you get the whole thing distilled into exquisite small scale pieces. Homeopathic Mussorgsky, if you like. And I do.
Regarding the songs, I prefer the original versions with piano.
Regarding Songs and dances of Death, I also prefer a female voice (Arkhipova with Wulstan was extraordinary).
But the 2 CD of songs recorded by Leiferkus is also remarkable. The best version of Sans Soleil that I have listened so far. There are songs, not belonging to the three cycles, that are very beautiful: one of them, Savichna, always touched me deeply.
And there are the operas. Boris, with Petrov, Arkhipova, Melik-Pachaev (I don't think the version of Rimski-Korsakov is that bad, in special if the interpreters respect the original order of the scenes), Khovantchina with Reizen and Khaikine or with Arkhipova and the same Khaikine.
Mussorgsky is, with Stravinsky, my preferred among russian composers.
Quote from: Iconito on May 25, 2007, 01:59:42 PM
What other Works would you guys recommend?
Boris Godunov
Night on Bare/Bald Mountain
Pictures at an Exhibition
Songs and Dances of Death
Sunless
Prelude to Khovanshchina
Quote from: beclemund on May 26, 2007, 07:53:54 PM
I guess that depends on whether you dislike vocal works in general ;), because the piece I enjoy the most, and would recommend, is Boris Godunov an opera.
I do not dislike vocal works in general. Far from it, I love vocals works in general... Although I do seem to have a problem with operas in particular... Except for Fidelio, I haven't been able to really enjoy that genre....yet. But I haven't listened to a LOT of operas, really, so it's only mi ignorance talking (It takes such a lot of work to be able to say "I don't like that" and still have some peace of mind... ;D) I'll try Boris Godunov, beclemund. Thank you!
Quote from: D Minor on May 30, 2007, 09:16:51 AM
Boris Godunov
Night on Bare/Bald Mountain
Pictures at an Exhibition
Songs and Dances of Death
Sunless
Prelude to Khovanshchina
Thank you, D! :D
Quote from: Iconito on May 30, 2007, 12:02:01 PM
I do not dislike vocal works in general. Far from it, I love vocals works in general... Although I do seem to have a problem with operas in particular... Except for Fidelio, I haven't been able to really enjoy that genre....yet. But I haven't listened to a LOT of operas, really, so it's only mi ignorance talking (It takes such a lot of work to be able to say "I don't like that" and still have some peace of mind... ;D) I'll try Boris Godunov, beclemund. Thank you!
Boris Godunov is NOT like any other opera ....... Even if you generally dislike opera, you might like this gem ........
Quote from: D Minor on May 30, 2007, 01:29:26 PM
Boris Godunov is NOT like any other opera ....... Even if you generally dislike opera, you might like this gem ........
It is the ONLY opera I like (sorry opera fans) and I've seen it live two or three times in London. I like the "Symphonic Synthesis" arranged by Stokowski although many purists will disapprove I'm sure ;D
My favourite composer painting:
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.geocities.com/sulawesiprince/russia/art_images/repin-mussorgsky.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.geocities.com/sulawesiprince/russia/art_images/repin1881.html&h=574&w=480&sz=49&hl=en&start=1&um=1&tbnid=1QFQTVfyRYiUNM:&tbnh=134&tbnw=112&prev=/images%3Fq%3Drepin%2Bmussorgsky%26svnum%3D10%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26ie%3DUTF-8
Quote from: Heather Harrison on May 25, 2007, 04:56:25 PM
(http://www.xmission.com/~dh/forum_images/VCS2659.jpg)
I recently found a good copy of it.
Not an easy record to find in good condition. I've seen it going for $125 on ebay. It was reissued by Chesky (they no longer press Lps unfortunately) and Quintessence. The Quintessence pressing was my imprint recording of these Mussorgsky works (and it had Leibowitz's
Danse Macabre as an extra fill.)
Quote from: Captain Haddock on May 31, 2007, 11:22:29 PM
It is the ONLY opera I like (sorry opera fans) and I've seen it live two or three times in London.
Well, if one is to love only one opera, this is one excellent opera to like!
Quote from: karlhenning on June 01, 2007, 04:42:02 AM
Well, if one is to love only one opera, this is one excellent opera to like!
Isn't the technical term for loving only one opera 'monoperaly'?
I'd recommend checking out Janacek's operas fro those who 'only like Boris', though, if I didn't wish to avoid sounding like a stuck record. However, it is pertinent to point out that of all the other 'great' composers, Janacek is the most like Mussorgsky, and Mussorgsky the most like Janacek. Their artistic aims are practically interchangable - the explicit concentration on Truth over Beauty which both men spoke of passionately; their technical means show marked similarity (the use of 'speech melodies' and the aesthetic behind this for instance).
I still argue for Szell and the CO for an excellent version of Pictures at an Exhibition (altough Reiner with the CSO is pretty darn close--he also offers a perfectly macabre version of the Night on Bald Mountain).
Whatever you do, do not buy the GROC version of Boris Godunov conducted by Andre Cluytens. Boris Christoff sings three roles in this one and its just bizaare hearing the voice of Boris in the roles of Pimen and Vaarlam. Not to say that I don't like this recording, but if you're just starting out, look elsewhere!
Quote from: Captain Haddock on May 31, 2007, 11:22:29 PM
It is the ONLY opera I like (sorry opera fans) and I've seen it live two or three times in London. I like the "Symphonic Synthesis" arranged by Stokowski although many purists will disapprove I'm sure ;D
Good for you! I hope to run across that Symphonic Synthesis some day ........
Yes, I ran over some Symphonic Synthesis the other day . . . .
Quote from: lukeottevanger on June 01, 2007, 04:50:50 AM
Isn't the technical term for loving only one opera 'monoperaly'?
I'd recommend checking out Janacek's operas fro those who 'only like Boris', though, if I didn't wish to avoid sounding like a stuck record. However, it is pertinent to point out that of all the other 'great' composers, Janacek is the most like Mussorgsky, and Mussorgsky the most like Janacek. Their artistic aims are practically interchangable - the explicit concentration on Truth over Beauty which both men spoke of passionately; their technical means show marked similarity (the use of 'speech melodies' and the aesthetic behind this for instance).
I couldn't agree with you more, Luke. Janacek and Mussorgsky are birds of a feather ........ it's undeniable ........
As a more proper introduction to Modest Mussorgsky:
(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/6/68/Musorgskiy.jpg/380px-Musorgskiy.jpg)
Russian composer Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky (1839-81), a member of The Five (Mighty Five), is best known for the opera Boris Godunov (which Rimsky-Korsakov re-orchestrated in 1896 and again revised in 1908); the orchestral tone poem Night on the Bald Mountain, (revised by Rimsky-Korsakov); and the piano suite Pictures at an Exhibition. The opera Khovanshchina was unfinished and unperformed when Mussorgsky died (but it was completed by Rimsky-Korsakov and received its premier in 1886 in St. Petersburg). Mussorgsky left another opera, Sorochintsy Fair, incomplete at his death (although the popular Gopak derives therefrom). Among his other works are a number of songs, including three song cycles: The Nursery (1872), Sunless (1874) and Songs and Dances of Death (1877).
From Grove: "Many of Mussorgsky's works were unfinished, and their editing and posthumous publication were mainly carried out by Rimsky-Korsakov, who to a greater or lesser degree 'corrected' what Mussorgsky had composed. Boris Godunov, in particular, was reshaped and repolished, with drastic cuts, wholesale rewriting and rescoring, insertion of new music and transposition of scenes. It was only many years later that, with a return to the composer's original drafts, the true nature of his rough art could be properly understood, for Mussorgsky shared with some of the painters of his day a disdain for formal beauty, technical polish and other manifestations of 'art for art's sake'. His desire was to relate his art as closely as possible to life, especially that of the Russian masses, to nourish it on events and to employ it as a means for communicating human experience."
I've always felt that Mussorgsky had an extremely unique, original voice. His influence has been acknowledged by Janacek (as Luke points out), Prokofiev, Shostakovich, Rachmaninov, and others. His later years was characterized by a steep decline into alcoholism, which, by several accounts, probably killed him.
(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/d/df/Mussorgsky_by_repin.jpg/460px-Mussorgsky_by_repin.jpg)
GROVE BIO EXTRACT (http://w3.rz-berlin.mpg.de/cmp/mussorgsky.html)
LIST OF WORKS (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_works_by_Modest_Mussorgsky)
NAXOS w/ BIO and SAMPLES (http://www.naxos.com/composerinfo/731.htm)
Classical.net Recommendations. (http://www.classical.net/music/comp.lst/mussorgsky.html)
(http://www.classical.net/music/recs/images/d/dgg57646.jpg)
I still need Pictures played on the pianer.
Quote from: Danny on June 01, 2007, 09:26:32 AM
I still need Pictures played on the pianer.
Ask and ye shall receive:
Evgeny Kissin performing (part 1 of 4) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OK7I284Xf3k)
Wow.
Quote from: Danny on June 01, 2007, 09:26:32 AM
I still need Pictures played on the pianer.
I first heard
Pictures in its orchestral incarnation, but after hearing the piano version, I much prefer the latter. It fascinates me no end the amount of sound that can come out of the piano :o.
Quote from: Novitiate on June 02, 2007, 04:07:32 AM
I first heard Pictures in its orchestral incarnation, but after hearing the piano version, I much prefer the latter. It fascinates me no end the amount of sound that can come out of the piano :o.
Over 12 composers have followed Ravel's lead by orchestrating
Pictures at an Exhibition ........ including two that turned it into a piano concerto :o
None of these other composers, of course, have matched Ravel's popularity .........
Quote from: D Minor on June 02, 2007, 10:19:27 AM
Over 12 composers have followed Ravel's lead by orchestrating Pictures at an Exhibition ........ including two that turned it into a piano concerto :o
None of these other composers, of course, have matched Ravel's popularity .........
Oh wow, I never knew that. I was only aware of the Ravel and the Stokowski ones, and have only heard the Ravel :-[. Seems like the orchestration project's a bit of a composer rites of passage ...
Very little, if anything, has been mentioned about Mussorgsky's other opera, Khovanshchina. The music is gorgeous. The overture is "Dawn on the Moscow River" (or similar) which is sometimes played in concerts. I can listen to that music again and again and still hear new things in it.
The music is wonderful in K, but some (many?) people have trouble with the libretto.
Mussorgsky's problem with this opera was that he wanted to write an opera about Peter the Great, but there was a law at that time forbidding any ruler to be presented on stage. So, how does one write an opera about a Tsar and still not present him as a character in the drama?
My recommendation: read Raymond K. Massie's book, Peter the Great. There was also a movie made from the book and given the same title. I have it in VHS and keep checking to see if it has made it to DVD. The book is highly enjoyable, likewise the movie.
Then get The New Grove Book of Operas, (750) pages) edited by Stanley Sadie. Gorgeous book! It explains the libretto problem better than anything else I have read and in very readable fashion. I have given a copy of this book to friends.
Two good books and a good movie, that should keep people busy and happy for a while! ;D
I recommend the DVD Khovanshchina conducted by Valerie Gergiev. Such beautiful music!
Regarding Sorochintsky Fair - there's not enough music written for that opera.
Quote from: Anne on June 04, 2007, 08:34:30 AMVery little, if anything, has been mentioned about Mussorgsky's other opera, Khovanshchina. The music is gorgeous.
Absolutely agree! It's a magnificent work.
Quote from: Novitiate on June 03, 2007, 08:17:39 PM
Oh wow, I never knew that. I was only aware of the Ravel and the Stokowski ones, and have only heard the Ravel :-[. Seems like the orchestration project's a bit of a composer rites of passage ...
I stand corrected. There are more than 12 transcriptions / orchestrations by other composers.
Orchestral arrangementsA listing of orchestral arrangements of Pictures at an Exhibition:
Mikhail Tushmalov (ca. 1886; three "pictures" and four Promenades omitted)
Henry Wood (1915; four Promenades omitted)
Leo Funtek (1922)
Maurice Ravel (1922; the fifth Promenade omitted)
Giuseppe Becce (1922; for "salon-orchestra")
Leonidas Leonardi (1924)
Lucien Cailliet (1937)
Leopold Stokowski (1938; Tuileries, fifth Promenade and Limoges omitted)
Walter Goehr (1942; includes a subsidiary part for piano)
Sergei Gorchakov (1954)
Daniel Walter (1959)
Helmut Brandenburg (ca. 1970)
Emile Naoumoff (ca. 1974, for piano and orchestra)
Zdenek Macal (ca. 1977)
Lawrence Leonard (1977; for piano and orchestra)
Vladimir Ashkenazy (1982)
Pung Siu-Wen (ca. 1983; for orchestra of Chinese instruments)
Thomas Wilbrandt (1992)
Byrwec Ellison (1995)
Mekong Delta (1997; for group and orchestra)
Carl Simpson (1997)
Julian Yu (2002; for chamber orchestra)
Hanspeter Gmur (date unknown)
Non-orchestral arrangementsA listing of non-orchestral arrangements of Pictures at an Exhibition:
Vladimir Horowitz (1946; revised version for solo piano)
Giuseppe Becce (1930; for piano trio)
Rudolf Wurthner (ca. 1954; for accordion orchestra; abridged version)
Ralph Burns (1957; for jazz orchestra)
Erik Leidzen (ca. 1960; for band)
Allyn Ferguson (ca. 1963; for jazz orchestra)
Mark Hindsley (ca. 1963; for band)
Dale Eymann (ca. 1965; for band; The Bogatyr Gates only)
B. Futerman (ca. 1968; Russian folk instruments orchestra, The Bogatyr Gates only)
Roger Boutry (ca. 1970; for band)
Emerson, Lake & Palmer (1971; rock group)
Harry van Hoof (ca. 1972; brass ensemble; The Bogatyr Gates only)
Isao Tomita (1975; for synthesizer)
Oskar Gottlieb Blarr (1976; for organ)
Elgar Howarth (ca. 1977; for brass ensemble)
Arthur Willis (1970s; for organ)
Dr. Keith Chapman (1970s; for the Wanamaker organ)
Günther Kaunzinger (1980; for organ)
Elgar Howarth (1981; for brass band)
Kazuhito Yamashita (1981; for classical guitar)
Reginald Haché (1982; for two pianos)
Henk de Vlieger (1984; for 14 percussion players, celesta and harp)
Arie Abbenes & Herman Jeurissen (ca. 1984; for carillon & band; The Bogatyr Gates only)
James Curnow (1985; for concert band; abridged version)
Jan Hala (ca. 1988; for guitar and pop orchestra; Baba-Yaga only)
Jean Guillou (ca. 1988; for organ)
Heinz Wallisch (ca. 1989; for two guitars)
Yuri Chernov (ca. 1991; for Russian folk instrument orchestra; The Bogatyr Gates only)
Gert van Keulen (1992; for band)
Hans Wilhelm Plate (1993; for 44 grand pianos and one prepared piano)
Jim Prime & Thom Hannum (ca. 1994; for brass quintet and band; abridged version)
Hans-Karsten Raecke (ca. 1994; for chorus, vocal soloists, synthesizers, brass and percussion)
Tangerine Dream (1994)
Trevor Parks (1994; for two pianos and wind band)
Elmar Rothe (1995; for three guitars)
Mekong Delta (1997; for metal band)
Joachim Linckelmann (ca. 1999 for wind quintet)
Vladimir Boyashov (ca. 2000 for Russian folk orchestra)
Tim Seddon (ca. 2002 two pianos)
Clare & Brent Fisher (2004; for jazz bigband)
Carl Simpson (2004; for wind orchestra)
Wayne Lytle, for the DVD Animusic 2 (2005; for synthesizer; Promenade + 3 movements)
Cameron Carpenter (2006, for organ)
Sergei V. Korschmin (2006; for brass ensemble)
David Aydellot (2006; for marching band)
Joseph Kreines (2006; for band, commissioned by the Timber Creek High School Wind Ensemble)
Ward Swingle (date unknown; for vocal ensemble, double bass and percussion; Limoges only)
John Boyd (date unknown; for band)
Vyacheslav Rozanov (date unknown; for bayan orchestra; The Old Castle only)
William Schmidt (date unknown; for saxophone choir);
Andres Segovia (date unknown; for guitar; The Old Castle only)
Elias Seppala (date unknown; for band)
Atsushi Sugahara (date unknown; for percussion ensemble)
Tohru Takahashi (date unknown; for band)
Simon Wright (date unknown; for band)
Akira Yodo (date unknown; for clarinet choir)
Michael Sweeney (date unknown; for band)
Massimo Gabba (2006; for organ)
Adam Berces (2007; for synthesizer - 'Pictures at an Exxhibition' album)
Nicholas Sprenger and Co-Arranger Carter Page (2007; for electric 7-String Guitar and electric 4-String Bass Guitar, Shortened versions of Promenade, The Old Castle, Bydlo and a reprise of Promenade in place of The Great Gate Of Kiev for the Experimental/Avant-Garde/Metal band KHAZM)
Mauricio Romero (2007; complete transcription for double bass alone)
Tony Matthews (2007; complete transcription for Brass Quintet)
:o
Quote from: D Minor on June 04, 2007, 05:11:54 PM
Non-orchestral arrangements
A listing of non-orchestral arrangements of Pictures at an Exhibition:
You forgot this one:
John Thompson's Teaching Little Fingers to Play transcription (one handed? can't remember, it's too, too long ago) of Promenade ;D.
Even I can play that one.
Mussorgsky's kindred spirit, Leos Janacek, now has his own lair ....... (http://www.good-music-guide.com/community/index.php/topic,1515.msg37707/topicseen.html#msg37707)
Upon having listened to Mussorgsky's opera
Khovanschina, Val had this to say:
Quote from: val on July 21, 2007, 12:33:59 AM
MUSSORGSKY: Khovantchina (version of Rimsky-Korsakov)
An extraordinary interpretation, the best I ever heard in this sublime opera. First, the choir of the Bolchoi, really unique in this music.
Khaikine conducts using a fast tempo, very dramatic.
The singers are remarkable. In special Arkhipova, unforgettable Marfa. Krivtchenia is the ideal Ivan Khovansky and Maslenikov, with his beautiful voice and his perfect style, the best Galitsin.
Ogvnitsev has not a voice as glorious as Reizen, but his a very human and touching Dosifei.
Quote from: bhodges on May 25, 2007, 06:25:03 AM
One of my favorite Mussorgsky discs is this one with Abbado and Berlin, that includes a real rarity, St. John's Night on the Bare Mountain. While it bears some resemblance to the much more familiar Night on Bald Mountain, especially in the opening, this version uses a full chorus and later passages are substantially different. The rest of the CD has selected scenes from Khovanshchina, also very beautifully done.
(http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/I/51IDoCF10dL._AA240_.jpg)
--Bruce
I think this is indeed an extraordinary disc - and it provides what might be called the 'missing link' between Musorgsky's original version of
Bare Mountain and Rimsky-Korsakov's famous version. I remember being slightly annoyed by a programme note for a concert George Benjamin conducted at Cambridge when he was a student there, which claimed that Rimsky-Korsakov 'improved' Musorgsky's 'chaotic' (I'm paraphrasing from memory, but that was the gist) original: at the time I thought it did less than justice to Musorgsky's experimental original. Now from hearing Abbado's recording of Musorgsky's choral version I know how relatively little 'tidying' Rimsky actually had to do!
Quote from: Pierre on July 21, 2007, 11:53:42 AM
I think this is indeed an extraordinary disc - and it provides what might be called the 'missing link' between Musorgsky's original version of Bare Mountain and Rimsky-Korsakov's famous version. I remember being slightly annoyed by a programme note for a concert George Benjamin conducted at Cambridge when he was a student there, which claimed that Rimsky-Korsakov 'improved' Musorgsky's 'chaotic' (I'm paraphrasing from memory, but that was the gist) original: at the time I thought it did less than justice to Musorgsky's experimental original. Now from hearing Abbado's recording of Musorgsky's choral version I know how relatively little 'tidying' Rimsky actually had to do!
Glad you like this, too. I found it quite a revelation. So just to confirm, there are three versions: Mussorgsky's original (i.e., earlier), this one above (in the middle) and the much more popular Rimsky-Korsakov orchestration (the last)? (Sorry, I don't have the CD handy to look at the notes.)
PS, totally off-topic but since you mentioned Benjamin, next week, I'm seeing his
Into the Little Hill, I think in its U.S. premiere.
--Bruce
Quote from: bhodges on July 21, 2007, 12:14:30 PM
Glad you like this, too. I found it quite a revelation. So just to confirm, there are three versions: Mussorgsky's original (i.e., earlier), this one above (in the middle) and the much more popular Rimsky-Korsakov orchestration (the last)? (Sorry, I don't have the CD handy to look at the notes.)
PS, totally off-topic but since you mentioned Benjamin, next week, I'm seeing his Into the Little Hill, I think in its U.S. premiere.
--Bruce
Just wanted to say I've nothing against Benjamin myself - don't really know his music. I'm not even sure he wrote the programme note I mentioned. But he was quite a big star in Cambridge when I lived there in the 1980s.
Quote from: Pierre on July 21, 2007, 11:53:42 AM
I think this is indeed an extraordinary disc - and it provides what might be called the 'missing link' between Musorgsky's original version of Bare Mountain and Rimsky-Korsakov's famous version. I remember being slightly annoyed by a programme note for a concert George Benjamin conducted at Cambridge when he was a student there, which claimed that Rimsky-Korsakov 'improved' Musorgsky's 'chaotic' (I'm paraphrasing from memory, but that was the gist) original: at the time I thought it did less than justice to Musorgsky's experimental original. Now from hearing Abbado's recording of Musorgsky's choral version I know how relatively little 'tidying' Rimsky actually had to do!
Great disc indeed. It was also a total revelation for me since I did not know that version and had always wondered what the hell R-K was thinking. But he only meant well. He understood that Mussorgsky was a genius of epic proportions, but he also knew that people at the time would not be able to see that. So he wanted to help a little. Now, today, there is really no need for his version at all.
Lyrita are issuing Sir Henry Wood's orchestration of Pictures at an Exhibition, which I heard years ago on the radio and thought it terrific, preferable to the more polished Ravel version, not to mention the "version" by Emerson, Lake and Palmer :o (the arrogance of the designation "Mussorsky/Lake" on the LP always made me laugh.
http://www.lyrita.co.uk/
Val has formulated an opinion about a 1946 recording of Khovantchina ........
Quote from: val on August 31, 2007, 12:24:25 AM
MUSSORGSKY: Khovantchina / Reizen, Leningrad Orchestra, Khaikine
This is the legendary first version of Khaikine, in Leningrad in 1946. The interpretation is very realistic, even tragic. In 1972 Khaikine was more controlled, with a faster tempo and showed more cohesion. The soloists (Ivan Khovansky, Galitsine, Shaklovity) of this 1946 version are inferior to those of 1972, but Preobrajenskaia is a remarkable Marfa and it seems obvious that she influenced Arkhipova.
However, the importance of this Leningrad version is centered in the extraordinary Mark Reizen, perhaps the greatest bass of the century. He had a voice incredibly powerful but beautiful, a noble phrasing, never emphatic. His Dosifei is the best I ever heard, including the excerpts recorded by Chaliapin.
The recording is very good for 1946 and includes several songs of Mussorgsky performed by Reizen.
Val offers further insight into Songs and Arias from Mussorgsky's operas:
Quote from: val on September 01, 2007, 12:45:17 AM
MUSSORGSKY: Songs and Arias from his operas
This is the complement of the Khovantchina 1946. Reizen singing some of Mussorgsky's most famous songs. It is incredible, but in his recital in 1980 his voice seems the one of a young man (he was already 85 !).
Some songs are also performed by Preobraienskaia (the very touching "Hebrew song").
And the rest of the CD offers us the legendary voices of the Kirov in Leningrad (or St Petersburg). The thing that most impresses is the fact that all of them sing Mussorgsky in a sort of bel-canto, with a perfect style, like Pavel Andreyeff with a very clear and beautiful voice of baritone singing the aria of Chakloviti.
Mussorgsky, Prelude to Khovanshchina, Zubin Mehta (berliner philharmoniker)
This is really superb ........
http://www.youtube.com/v/HDAbSCsqn30
Spectacular!
I can't hear it because my computer has something wrong with it. The piece is also called "Dawn on the Moscow River."
In the opera right after that gorgeous music comes the most horrible-sounding, loud chord. It separates the soft gentle music of dawn arriving from the horrible things going on in people's lives under that sun. Very effective.
Anyone heard Salonen's Pictures at an exhibition (orchestrated by Ravel) with the Philharmonia orchestra in august 2006 BBC proms? If you haven't, go here, it's beyond excellent. Whole-heartedly recommended. :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_98452AxFI
From that part I you can find links to the 2nd and 3rd and 4th part, unless you are blind.
Quote from: Anne on October 10, 2007, 06:47:42 AM
I can't hear it because my computer has something wrong with it. The piece is also called "Dawn on the Moscow River."
Sorry about your computer ........ It plays fine for me using Internet Explorer (but not AOL) ......
Quote from: Anne on October 10, 2007, 06:47:42 AM
In the opera right after that gorgeous music comes the most horrible-sounding, loud chord. It separates the soft gentle music of dawn arriving from the horrible things going on in people's lives under that sun. Very effective.
Do you have the whole opera? (like much of Mussorgsky, it's unfinished, of course).
Quote from: D Minor on October 11, 2007, 03:36:24 AM
Sorry about your computer ........ It plays fine for me using Internet Explorer (but not AOL) ......
Do you have the whole opera? (like much of Mussorgsky, it's unfinished, of course).
Yes, I have the whole opera; it is my favorite. I especially like the Gergiev version, Kirov Orchestra, Opera Chorus and Ballet from St. Petersburg, Mariinsky Theatre, 1991 DVD. It is the same performance as the Gergiev CD's. There is a mesmerising ballet in it that is very beautiful.
There is another performance with the Vienna State Opera and conducted by Abbado but I much prefer the Gergiev; it seems more "Russian."
Quote from: Anne on October 11, 2007, 08:03:03 AM
Yes, I have the whole opera; it is my favorite. I especially like the Gergiev version, Kirov Orchestra, Opera Chorus and Ballet from St. Petersburg, Mariinsky Theatre, 1991 DVD. It is the same performance as the Gergiev CD's. There is a mesmerising ballet in it that is very beautiful.
There is another performance with the Vienna State Opera and conducted by Abbado but I much prefer the Gergiev; it seems more "Russian."
There's also this 1984 DVD:
(http://g-ec2.images-amazon.com/images/I/510X5QJVZ5L._SS500_.jpg)
Khovanschina is one of Russian opera's infrequently performed masterpieces, a work which has been gaining steadily in popularity in recent years. "The Khovansky Uprising" (as the title is often translated) is a sprawling tale of the struggle for power in Russia at the beginning of the reign of Peter The Great. This performance, taped "live" at the Bolshoi Opera in 1979, stars the great Russian bass Yevgeni Nesterenko as Dosifei, the Old Believer at religious and psychological war with the new order, led by Prince Ivan Khovansky. The manipulative Khovansky is powerfully portrayed here by Alexander Vedernikov, another of the world's great basses, little known outside of the Soviet Union. Marfa, one of Dosifei's followers and a fortune teller, is sung by the legendary mezzo-soprano Irina Arkhipova in a performance of great authority and dignity. Russian opera at the Bolshoi is the genuine article, and a remainder of the cast is equally impressive, from the mistrusting Prince Galitsyn of Evgeny Raikov to the clever, informing Shaklovity of Vladislav Romanovsky
Thanks for mentioning the Nesterenko. That picture looks familiar and I think I have it but can't find it at the moment. I've been away from home and need to organize the shelves again.
Do you like Khovanshchina? or Boris Godunov?
Quote from: Anne on October 11, 2007, 01:13:49 PM
Do you like Khovanshchina? or Boris Godunov?
Bor is one of my faves, but I don't know
Kho very well ........
Quote from: D Minor on October 12, 2007, 03:54:43 AM
Bor is one of my faves, but I don't know Kho very well ........
If you don't mind a suggestion? Khovanshchina is harder to enjoy because it is talking about Peter the Great. In Mussorgsky's era it was forbidden to put the Tsar on stage. If he could have had the Tsar as a main character, he would have. What does he do? He talks all about Peter and the problems of his reign. The best book for explaining the libretto is
The New Grove Book of Opera.There were 3 areas of conflict covered in the opera: 1) religion (the old believers vs the new religion, 2) the boyers (They helped Peter rule Russia. Many times, though, they were not to be trusted), and (3 the streltsy (Peter's personally trained soldiers and bodyguards. Peter created these soldiers because he thought he could not trust or depend on the regular Russian soldiers.
Robert Graves has written a book,
Peter the Great. It is excellent! There is also a movie made from Graves' book by the same title. If you are interested and can't find the movie (it may be out of print), you may borrow my copy. The movie is good and lasts 6 hours on slow speed on the VCR (NTSC). If you read the book and watch the movie, Khovanshchina becomes much easier to enjoy.
Do you have the Gergiev CD's and DVD? I liked them so much that I have never searched for anything else.
Quote from: Anne on October 12, 2007, 07:39:38 AM
If you don't mind a suggestion? Khovanshchina is harder to enjoy because it is talking about Peter the Great. In Mussorgsky's era it was forbidden to put the Tsar on stage. If he could have had the Tsar as a main character, he would have. What does he do? He talks all about Peter and the problems of his reign. The best book for explaining the libretto is The New Grove Book of Opera.
There were 3 areas of conflict covered in the opera: 1) religion (the old believers vs the new religion, 2) the boyers (They helped Peter rule Russia. Many times, though, they were not to be trusted), and (3 the streltsy (Peter's personally trained soldiers and bodyguards. Peter created these soldiers because he thought he could not trust or depend on the regular Russian soldiers.
Robert Graves has written a book, Peter the Great. It is excellent! There is also a movie made from Graves' book by the same title. If you are interested and can't find the movie (it may be out of print), you may borrow my copy. The movie is good and lasts 6 hours on slow speed on the VCR (NTSC). If you read the book and watch the movie, Khovanshchina becomes much easier to enjoy.
Thanks! 8)
Quote from: Anne on October 12, 2007, 07:39:38 AM
Do you have the Gergiev CD's and DVD? I liked them so much that I have never searched for anything else.
Thanks for the rec ....... the Gergiev DVD looks like the way to go! :)
I hope you enjoy it. For both Boris and Khovanshchina Gergiev is good for 1st CD or DVD. After that Nesterenko is great for both operas. There is one more DVD for Boris that is terrific:
http://www.amazon.com/Mussorgsky-Godunov-Nesterenko-Arkhipova-Yaroslavtsev/dp/B0001AP1AS/ref=sr_1_31/104-6944379-3143911?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1192234582&sr=1-31
Question: Did Mussorgsky actually orchestrate anything on his own?? Just seems like everyone else finished his work for him.
Quote from: bhodges on July 21, 2007, 12:14:30 PM
Glad you like this, too. I found it quite a revelation. So just to confirm, there are three versions: Mussorgsky's original (i.e., earlier), this one above (in the middle) and the much more popular Rimsky-Korsakov orchestration (the last)? (Sorry, I don't have the CD handy to look at the notes.)
PS, totally off-topic but since you mentioned Benjamin, next week, I'm seeing his Into the Little Hill, I think in its U.S. premiere.
--Bruce
Don't forget the Stokowski Fantasia rearrangement - which was based on the RK version but slightly "modernized" ;) Both these versions btw were based on the middle score, the choral arrangement, not the original, as I am sure you know.
Also, there is at least one Mussorgsky arrangement which has been lost, the one he intended for Mlada if I am not mistaken.
Quote from: ChamberNut on September 23, 2009, 04:58:02 AM
Question: Did Mussorgsky actually orchestrate anything on his own?? Just seems like everyone else finished his work for him.
Well, it's not exactly "finishing his work for him". There's a bit of a misconception that Mussorgsky couldn't orchestrate so others "stepped in" for him to complete the job.
But
Boris exists in fully finished and orchestrated form by Mussorgsky himself and it's completely successful. Unfortunately the work gained popularity in Rimsky's more lush and "touched up" orchestration and it has taken awhile for the work to be recognized as the great work it is in
original form.
Pictures is pretty much in the same boat. In this case however the piece was never
intended to be orchestrated.
Pictures began life as a solo piano piece that once again fell into the hands of "well-wishers" intent on "improving" the piece. Several orchestrations exist, even some that predate the famous Ravel orchestration that was actually commissioned by Koussevitzky and the Boston Symphony Orchestra.
Others have already mentioned
Bare Mountain.With
Khovanshchina others
had to finish it for him as he died before completion.
Quote from: Dancing Divertimentian on September 23, 2009, 08:01:50 AM
Well, it's not exactly "finishing his work for him". There's a bit of a misconception that Mussorgsky couldn't orchestrate so others "stepped in" for him to complete the job.
But Boris exists in fully finished and orchestrated form by Mussorgsky himself and it's completely successful. Unfortunately the work gained popularity in Rimsky's more lush and "touched up" orchestration and it has taken awhile for the work to be recognized as the great work it is in original form.
Pictures is pretty much in the same boat. In this case however the piece was never intended to be orchestrated. Pictures began life as a solo piano piece that once again fell into the hands of "well-wishers" intent on "improving" the piece. Several orchestrations exist, even some that predate the famous Ravel orchestration that was actually commissioned by Koussevitzky and the Boston Symphony Orchestra.
Others have already mentioned Bare Mountain.
With Khovanshchina others had to finish it for him as he died before completion.
Thank you for this! It does help to clarify things for me. I'd be very interested in hearing Boris Godunov under Mussorgsky's own orchestration. Any particular recordings for this?
Quote from: ChamberNut on September 23, 2009, 08:59:14 AM
Thank you for this! It does help to clarify things for me. I'd be very interested in hearing Boris Godunov under Mussorgsky's own orchestration. Any particular recordings for this?
I've got two, and would recommend either.
Gergiev's five-disc-for-the-price-of-three version: http://www.amazon.com/Boris-Godounov-1869-1872-Versions/dp/B00000DI3M/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1253727657&sr=1-2 (http://www.amazon.com/Boris-Godounov-1869-1872-Versions/dp/B00000DI3M/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1253727657&sr=1-2). The first two discs have the original 1869 version, the last three discs are the revised 1872 version.
Abbado's set conflates the composer's two versions: http://www.amazon.com/Mussorgsky-Kotscherga-Lipovsek-Leiferkus-Langridge/dp/B0000029L4/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1253727657&sr=1-4 (http://www.amazon.com/Mussorgsky-Kotscherga-Lipovsek-Leiferkus-Langridge/dp/B0000029L4/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1253727657&sr=1-4)
If I had to choose one, it'd be Abbado, but I'm glad not to have to make that choice.
Quote from: Wendell_E on September 23, 2009, 09:51:18 AM
I've got two, and would recommend either.
Gergiev's five-disc-for-the-price-of-three version: http://www.amazon.com/Boris-Godounov-1869-1872-Versions/dp/B00000DI3M/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1253727657&sr=1-2 (http://www.amazon.com/Boris-Godounov-1869-1872-Versions/dp/B00000DI3M/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1253727657&sr=1-2). The first two discs have the original 1869 version, the last three discs are the revised 1872 version.
Abbado's set conflates the composer's two versions: http://www.amazon.com/Mussorgsky-Kotscherga-Lipovsek-Leiferkus-Langridge/dp/B0000029L4/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1253727657&sr=1-4 (http://www.amazon.com/Mussorgsky-Kotscherga-Lipovsek-Leiferkus-Langridge/dp/B0000029L4/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1253727657&sr=1-4)
If I had to choose one, it'd be Abbado, but I'm glad not to have to make that choice.
Wonderful, thank you! :)
There are a couple of piano transcriptions of Bare Mountain too, I find this one is great, certainly reminds me of the original piano version of Pictures:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1U2bc96Z3QU&feature=related (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1U2bc96Z3QU&feature=related)
Quote from: ChamberNut on September 23, 2009, 08:59:14 AM
Thank you for this! It does help to clarify things for me. I'd be very interested in hearing Boris Godunov under Mussorgsky's own orchestration. Any particular recordings for this?
Like Wendell_E I have both the Gergiev and the Abbado recordings. I might juuuust favor Gergiev for the darker, more brooding perspective but both are fine recordings.
Quote from: Heather Harrison on May 25, 2007, 04:56:25 PM
Mussorgsky is largely responsible for getting me interested in classical music. (J.S. Bach is the other culprit.)
Heather-- we have a lot in common! Those two were the ones that pulled my into music, period.
Quote from: dm on May 25, 2007, 06:00:42 AM
Love the SADOD ( Songs and Dances of Death) .......
I'm a big fan-- I'm not sure if I like the piano or Shosty orchestral version better.
I remember a while back Snyprr wondered what a Mussorsgky SQ would be like. I'm wondering how well SADOD would fit. Of course, with the deep Russian voices, it may be necessary to have one violin, and two Celli, like the Quartet "Invert"
Quote from: vandermolen on May 31, 2007, 11:22:29 PM
It is the ONLY opera I like (sorry opera fans) and I've seen it live two or three times in London. I like the "Symphonic Synthesis" arranged by Stokowski although many purists will disapprove I'm sure ;D
Sorry for the multiple posts in short order, but he is my original musical hero.
Ya gotta love the Symphonic Synthesis for how well it does the death of Boris with a loud Boom.
Quick thoughts. I too am not an opera buff, but love Boris and Khovanschina even more. (Khovanschina strikes me as more consistently tuneful. The last couple acts are really wonderful. Boris is a lot more uneven...) I'll be honest- I keep an edit,and not the full things on my mp3 player.
Some people were asking about the multiple versions of Boris. Mussorgsky needed to write in a woman's part to get it accepted-- hence the Polish scenes, but he dropped the part outside St. Basil's which is gorgeous. Rimsky's version incorporated some from both Mussorgsky versions, which is why you hear the lamenting fool in two places. Rimsky did pare back some of Mussorgsky's more barbaric elements, such as the evil parallel fifths.
I like Shostakovitch's approach on Khovanschina, in that he had a richer sound,but kept all of the edgier elements in. (It was necessary to have someone finish this-- Mussorgsky was sinking fast. )
Another interesting project was Diaglev's idea to have many composer's orchestrate Khovanschina. (Ravel and Stravinsky and others.) It never took off, but Stravinsky really did a very minimal arrangement of the final immolation scene which is quite haunting.
I adore Pictures at an Exhibition in any form. When I was 3 or 4 I used to have visions when I heard it, and I'd cry and break things if I couldn't hear the Ravel version twice a day. The Stokowski version doesn't work for me-- the massed strings in the beggining, and its a bit overdone.
He also had a childhood themed piano cycle that was quite good. (One was the terror of a child locked in a closet-- very effective.) Crazy about Songs and Dances of Death. I need to give Sunless another try.
No mention of his late piano music-- I'm big on that. One Tear, Meditation, In the Village and Hoursoff are all great. The critic in allmusic didn't like his later paino works, but think more like a chronically depressed Satie would sound. Simple on the surface, but lots of depth.
Supposedly, in the last year of his life, he had advanced beyond music into pure sound, and had created an onomatopoetic (sp?) account of a storm on the Black Sea cost that never got written down. I lose a LOT of sleep over that.
There was an orchestration of his Opera Salammbo back in the 70s i have on vinyl. Okay, but not a revelation.
Comparisons to Janacek are very apprepos. Both were obsessed with the relationship between human speech and music.
Other works-- Capture of Kars is fun. The Turkish theme in the middle is great. The Dance of the Persian Slave Girls from Khovanschina should have gotten more airplay.
I still cannot forgive Tchaikovsky and Cui for the bad things they said about Modeste. He was the man.
Quote from: jowcol on September 24, 2009, 01:05:08 PM
Supposedly, in the last year of his life, he had advanced beyond music into pure sound, and had created an onomatopoetic (sp?) account of a storm on the Black Sea cost that never got written down. I lose a LOT of sleep over that.
Hey, that's new and interesting information to me - where did you read this? Any other projects that suggest he was advancing "beyond music into pure sound"?
It was some biography I read in high school-- which is longer ago than I would care to admit. I wish I remembered which one. My local library also had a collection of his letters that I refused to give back to the library for several months.
Is there a 'Big Box o' Mussorgsky'? ;D
Quote from: ChamberNut on October 05, 2009, 09:40:59 AM
Is there a 'Big Box o' Mussorgsky'? ;D
Not likely. But you should ask Harry to let the BC people know that there is demand for one. ;)
I just watched Abbado's DVD of Khovanschina, and I must say, this is probably one of my favorite operas, at least musically speaking. I am most likely in the minority here, but I enjoy it more than Boris Godunov. I need to give Boris another spin or two. I've enjoyed parts of BG, in fact a lot of parts, but as a whole, it hasn't quite clicked for me yet. But for me, Khovanschina grabs me from the start, and the last scene makes a HUGE impact on me whenever I listen to it. (I often listen to it outside of listening/watching the whole opera).
I really like the use of Shostakovich's orchestration for most of it, and then Stravinsky's final scene. It is a scoring that I think works perfectly for the work, but I cannot say that in a definite way, I haven't heard Shostakovich's final scene, nor have I heard Rimsky's version of it. Maybe when I listen to them, I would draw a different conclusion, but I really like how the scoring works in the DVD.
But I saw in this thread that Gergiev has a DVD of this piece out, so that's probably my next adventure into this work. It would be interesting to compare the two DVDs.
Quote from: Ring of Fire on June 23, 2010, 08:30:51 PM
I just watched Abbado's DVD of Khovanschina, and I must say, this is probably one of my favorite operas, at least musically speaking. I am most likely in the minority here, but I enjoy it more than Boris Godunov. I need to give Boris another spin or two.
You are not alone-- I also prefer Khovanschina-- particulaly the last three acts.
Quote from: Ring of Fire on June 23, 2010, 08:30:51 PM
I just watched Abbado's DVD of Khovanschina, and I must say, this is probably one of my favorite operas, at least musically speaking. I am most likely in the minority here, but I enjoy it more than Boris Godunov. I need to give Boris another spin or two. I've enjoyed parts of BG, in fact a lot of parts, but as a whole, it hasn't quite clicked for me yet. But for me, Khovanschina grabs me from the start, and the last scene makes a HUGE impact on me whenever I listen to it. (I often listen to it outside of listening/watching the whole opera).
I really like the use of Shostakovich's orchestration for most of it, and then Stravinsky's final scene. It is a scoring that I think works perfectly for the work, but I cannot say that in a definite way, I haven't heard Shostakovich's final scene, nor have I heard Rimsky's version of it. Maybe when I listen to them, I would draw a different conclusion, but I really like how the scoring works in the DVD.
But I saw in this thread that Gergiev has a DVD of this piece out, so that's probably my next adventure into this work. It would be interesting to compare the two DVDs.
I'm impressed with this opera, too, even though I've only seen it once, in 1985, in a new production at the Met. I recall liking it enormously, and the staging of the final immolation scene was terrific: a towering silo-like structure slowly revolved to reveal the interior lined with rows of singers from top to bottom, as the smoke and fire around them begin to build. (PS, had to look it up: the Met used the Shostakovich orchestration.)
--Bruce
Quote from: bhodges on June 25, 2010, 12:50:30 PM
I'm impressed with this opera, too, even though I've only seen it once, in 1985, in a new production at the Met. I recall liking it enormously, and the staging of the final immolation scene was terrific: a towering silo-like structure slowly revolved to reveal the interior lined with rows of singers from top to bottom, as the smoke and fire around them begin to build. (PS, had to look it up: the Met used the Shostakovich orchestration.)
--Bruce
It was a similar ending in the Abbado DVD, except with no flames. There was a lot of smoke engulfing the stage as the curtain went down and music faded away. It was a very effective ending.
Quote from: Ring of Fire on June 23, 2010, 08:30:51 PM
But I saw in this thread that Gergiev has a DVD of this piece out, so that's probably my next adventure into this work. It would be interesting to compare the two DVDs.
Just for info, Gergiev's Khovanshchina on Immortal DVD has no subtitles and audio/video quality isn't very impressive.
Quote from: Ring of Fire on June 23, 2010, 08:30:51 PM
I really like the use of Shostakovich's orchestration for most of it, and then Stravinsky's final scene. It is a scoring that I think works perfectly for the work, but I cannot say that in a definite way, I haven't heard Shostakovich's final scene, nor have I heard Rimsky's version of it. Maybe when I listen to them, I would draw a different conclusion, but I really like how the scoring works in the DVD.
In fact the scoring isn't "Shostakovich's". Shostakovich's critical edition of Khovanschina mostly reverted Rimsky's unwanted alterations and reorchestrations, and returned the opera to the orchestration Musorgsky had originally intended... as far as that could be determined from the sketches and original scorings. (Musorgsky was famous for revising and rewriting his own work to reach a "better" version - sometimes there are conflicting versions of the same thing in the composer's own sketches and scorings).
This is an entirely different process to that which the young Shostakovich had undertaken on BORIS GODUNOV, where he rescored the piece extensively, adding a huge battery of additional percussion, 6 harps, and quite a lot more. Of course some of this is pretty questionable, although it makes a fabulous noise when it's all under way . But the triumph of DSCH's edition of BORIS is that he restores original Musorgsky material (cut to ribbons by Rimsky) and makes dramatic sense of the libretto (something which is definitely missing in the so-called "Original Musorgsky Version" edited by David Lloyd-Jones. The result is an opera with
nearly 40 minutes more material (all original Musorgsky!) and an entirely different story-line! Marina Mnishek - who is cut from the "original Musorgsky version"! - emerges as the anti-heroine of the piece. with the plot-essential scenes at the Polish Border restored in full, Rangoni seen as a more dangerous enemy than Shuisky (and the "evil counterpart" of Boris himself). Finally the grasping power-maddened Marina marries the Pretender (my board namesake, False Dmitry).
(http://www.helikon.ru/img/wysiwyg/2687e.jpg)
HELIKON OPERA, Moscow, DSCH version of BORIS GODUNOV - Vassily Efimov as the Simpleton(http://www.helikon.ru/img/wysiwyg/2349e_1.jpg)
HELIKON OPERA, Moscow, DSCH version of BORIS GODUNOV - Ksenia Vyaznikova as Marina, Andrei Vylegzhanin as RangoniIt has to be remembered here that "BORIS GODUNOV" is not intended to "tell this historical story of the Time Of Troubles". It's a setting of Pushkin's play BORIS GODUNOV, which is a psychological drama about the corrupting nature of power. As such, Musorgsky - a member of an overtly nationalistic group, "The Mighty Handful" - was aiming at creating a Russian equivalent of Wagner's RING - a story about how the lust for power destroys everyone in its wake. The Shostakovich edition of BORIS is undoubtedly the closest to the Pushkin play, and reshuffles all of Musorgsky's material to create a logical drama. (The "new" plot which emerges is the story of how Catholicism nearly took root in Russia - a story which is completely missing from the "original Musorgsky version").
AFAIK there is not a recording of the Shostakovich version of BORIS GODUNOV (and in fact very few people even seem to know he ever made this version, which he was commissioned to write for MosFilm Studios). HELIKON OPERA in Moscow performed the DSCH version in honour of the composer's anniversary two years ago.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vskqexg6piM&feature=related (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vskqexg6piM&feature=related)
HELIKON OPERA, Moscow, DSCH version of BORIS GODUNOV - Coronation Scene, with extra percussion! Vadim Zaplechny as Shuisky, and Alexei Tikhomirov as Boris, producer Dmitry Bertmann, conductor Nikolai Chudovsky
Quote from: False_Dmitry on June 25, 2010, 02:59:18 PM
In fact the scoring isn't "Shostakovich's". Shostakovich's critical edition of Khovanschina mostly reverted Rimsky's unwanted alterations and reorchestrations, and returned the opera to the orchestration Musorgsky had originally intended... as far as that could be determined from the sketches and original scorings. (Musorgsky was famous for revising and rewriting his own work to reach a "better" version - sometimes there are conflicting versions of the same thing in the composer's own sketches and scorings).
I believe Mussorgsky only finished the vocal score, and maybe orchestrated one or two sections, but not all of it. I come to believe this due to reading the linear notes, and Grove music online (oxford music now), I'm looking at the sources, and they have one thing in common, they all say that Rimsky-Korsakov undertook the (first) orchestration of the piece.
I mean, I could be wrong, and been misreading the passages.
Quote from: Ring of Fire on June 25, 2010, 04:23:12 PM
I mean, I could be wrong,
I'm afraid you are completely wrong.
Quote from: False_Dmitry on June 25, 2010, 11:47:06 PM
I'm afraid you are completely wrong.
from Groves music:
Quote from: Grove MusicMusorgsky conceived the work in 1872 and began its composition the next year; it was left unfinished, and (except for two fragments) unorchestrated at his death in 1881. A vocal score transmitting Musorgsky's manuscripts as he left them was published in 1931, edited by Pavel Lamm.
Then I wonder how your dictionary explains
- the full orchestrated score of the opera submitted to the Imperial Theatre Commission in December 1869
- Rimsky-Korsakov's remarks (in The Chronicle of My Life in Music) that the advanced orchestration of the work non-plussed the Theatre Commission, who couldn't understand it
- the full orchestral score of the Revised Version, submitted by Musorgsky to the Imperial Theatres Commission in 1872 and still in the archives of the St Petersburg Conservatoire with this date stamped on it
- The performance of three scenes from the opera, to illustrate its merits, at the Mariinsky Theatre in St Petersburg on 5th February 1873, with orchestra and chorus, organised by Musorgsky's supporters to give the opera a public airing
- The premiere of the entire opera - with chorus and orchestra - on 27th January 1874. Musorgsky himself took 20 curtain-calls. The performance was conducted by the legendary Czech conductor and champion of Tchaikovsky's music, Eduard Napravnik. 17 further performances were given at the Mariinsky Theatre.
- The Moscow premiere at the Bolshoi Theatre on 16th December 1888
You need to learn the difference between works being PERFORMED, and being PUBLISHED.
Quote from: Ring of Fire on June 25, 2010, 04:23:12 PM
they all say that Rimsky-Korsakov undertook the (first) orchestration of the piece.
Utterly, utterly wrong.
Quote from: False_Dmitry on June 26, 2010, 08:34:11 AM
Then I wonder how your dictionary explains
- the full orchestrated score of the opera submitted to the Imperial Theatre Commission in December 1869
- Rimsky-Korsakov's remarks (in The Chronicle of My Life in Music) that the advanced orchestration of the work non-plussed the Theatre Commission, who couldn't understand it
- the full orchestral score of the Revised Version, submitted by Musorgsky to the Imperial Theatres Commission in 1872 and still in the archives of the St Petersburg Conservatoire with this date stamped on it
- The performance of three scenes from the opera, to illustrate its merits, at the Mariinsky Theatre in St Petersburg on 5th February 1873, with orchestra and chorus, organised by Musorgsky's supporters to give the opera a public airing
- The premiere of the entire opera - with chorus and orchestra - on 27th January 1874. Musorgsky himself took 20 curtain-calls. The performance was conducted by the legendary Czech conductor and champion of Tchaikovsky's music, Eduard Napravnik. 17 further performances were given at the Mariinsky Theatre.
- The Moscow premiere at the Bolshoi Theatre on 16th December 1888
You need to learn the difference between works being PERFORMED, and being PUBLISHED.
If you were to show me where you find this information, I'll retract my statements. But everywhere I've seen these works, it never mentioned that Mussorgsky got around to orchestrating it, except for a few scenes and that Rimsky-Korsakov was the one who orchestrated it from the vocal score he left when he died. It also mentions that the work wasn't even conceived until 1872, so that's quick composition of the opera. Your time frame of that seems to fit more of the Boris Godunov opera, and the different revisions. And to your final point, Mussorgsky died in 1881, 7 years before that premiere.
I'm not stupid. I know the difference between performed and published. But please, show me where you found your information so I can examine it.
Quote from: Ring of Fire on June 26, 2010, 09:01:59 AM
I'm not stupid. I know the difference between performed and published. But please, show me where you found your information so I can examine it.
I'm not wasting another moment on a fool like you.
Or perhaps you think the orchestra all gathered around a vocal score and made up their own parts at the world premiere? HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHahahahahahahahahahahah!
Quote from: Ring of Fire on June 26, 2010, 09:01:59 AMI'm not stupid.
Yes you are!!!
http://www.belcanto.ru/godunov.html (http://www.belcanto.ru/godunov.html)
http://100oper.nm.ru/080.html (http://100oper.nm.ru/080.html)
http://www.mussorgsky.ru/godunov.html (http://www.mussorgsky.ru/godunov.html)
http://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Борис_Годунов_(опера) (http://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Борис_Годунов_(опера))
http://www.google.com/search?q=%D0%B8%D1%81%D1%82%D0%BE%D1%80%D0%B8%D1%8F+%D1%81%D0%BE%D0%B7%D0%B4%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%B8%D1%8F+%D0%BE%D0%BF%D0%B5%D1%80%D1%8B+%D0%B1%D0%BE%D1%80%D0%B8%D1%81+%D0%B3%D0%BE%D0%B4%D1%83%D0%BD%D0%BE%D0%B2&hl=en&client=opera&hs=K6E&sa=X&rls=en&tbs=tl:1&tbo=u&ei=xTcmTKOZFMPqON7g8a8C&oi=timeline_result&ct=title&resnum=11&ved=0CGAQ5wIwCg (http://www.google.com/search?q=%D0%B8%D1%81%D1%82%D0%BE%D1%80%D0%B8%D1%8F+%D1%81%D0%BE%D0%B7%D0%B4%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%B8%D1%8F+%D0%BE%D0%BF%D0%B5%D1%80%D1%8B+%D0%B1%D0%BE%D1%80%D0%B8%D1%81+%D0%B3%D0%BE%D0%B4%D1%83%D0%BD%D0%BE%D0%B2&hl=en&client=opera&hs=K6E&sa=X&rls=en&tbs=tl:1&tbo=u&ei=xTcmTKOZFMPqON7g8a8C&oi=timeline_result&ct=title&resnum=11&ved=0CGAQ5wIwCg)
http://www.classic-music.ru/godunov.html (http://www.classic-music.ru/godunov.html)
I think this was one big....big....misunderstanding. I never brought up Boris Godunov, except that I said I liked Khovanschina better than BG. I responded to what I thought you were saying that Mussorgsky finished the orchestration of Khovanschina, which I was arguing, not whether or not he finished Boris Godunov (which I know he did, as I said, I'm not stupid)
Quote from: Ring of Fire on June 26, 2010, 09:31:45 AM
I think this was one big....big....misunderstanding. I never brought up Boris Godunov[/b
Agreed then, if we were always talking at crossed purposes! And apologies. 8)
Just a Melodya CD of Mussorgsky Songs (Nesterenko singing) and was pretty peeed off to find there was no Russian/English texts for the songs.
The songs are
Songs and Dances of Death (4 songs)
Sunless (7 songs)
+ Song of the Flea, Lullaby for Eremushka, Gardden by the Don, Darling Savishna
Where can I find texts for these?
Quote from: calyptorhynchus on August 29, 2012, 04:20:31 PM
Just a Melodya CD of Mussorgsky Songs (Nesterenko singing) and was pretty peeed off to find there was no Russian/English texts for the songs.
The songs are
Songs and Dances of Death (4 songs)
Sunless (7 songs)
+ Song of the Flea, Lullaby for Eremushka, Gardden by the Don, Darling Savishna
Where can I find texts for these?
Songs and Dances of Death: http://www.recmusic.org/lieder/assemble_texts.html?SongCycleId=147 (http://www.recmusic.org/lieder/assemble_texts.html?SongCycleId=147) (choice of languages)
Sunless: http://www.recmusic.org/lieder/assemble_texts.html?SongCycleId=60 (http://www.recmusic.org/lieder/assemble_texts.html?SongCycleId=60) (i assume you meant six?)
Song of the Flea: http://www.recmusic.org/lieder/get_text.html?TextId=19204 (http://www.recmusic.org/lieder/get_text.html?TextId=19204) (aka Mephistopheles' Song in Auerbach's Cellar)
Lullaby for Eremushka: http://www.recmusic.org/lieder/get_text.html?TextId=12038 (http://www.recmusic.org/lieder/get_text.html?TextId=12038)
Garden by the Don (Blooms): http://www.recmusic.org/lieder/get_text.html?TextId=9489 (http://www.recmusic.org/lieder/get_text.html?TextId=9489)
Darling Savishna: http://www.recmusic.org/lieder/get_text.html?TextId=11956 (http://www.recmusic.org/lieder/get_text.html?TextId=11956)
In general, you will find a list of Mussorgsky songs here: http://www.recmusic.org/lieder/m/musorgsky.html (http://www.recmusic.org/lieder/m/musorgsky.html)
A better alternative might be to check out sites that allow you to download booklets, like Hyperion. Check here: http://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/dc.asp?dc=D_CDA66775&vw=dc (http://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/dc.asp?dc=D_CDA66775&vw=dc) for the bulk of them.
Via spotify, I listened to the full Shostakovich orchestration of Khovanschina. More specifically, with the Shostakovich ending. Previously, I was only familiar with the Stravinsky final scene. I still see the reasoning and logic of using the Stravinsky ending (It's also wonderful music to end the opera), but I really liked the Shostakovich ending.
What about other people? Stravinsky, or Shostakovich? or Rimsky-Korsakov?
Boris Godunov has always been one of my favourite operas, now I'm listening to Khovanschina. Great of course, but one thing that occurs to me to say is that even if Mussorgsky hadn't written great music to go along with the libretto, he would still be a notable historical dramatist. The librettos to these two operas are streets ahead of most opera libretti. I saw an English translation of Pushkin's play Boris Godunov once, Mussorgsky much improved it!
Quote from: calyptorhynchus on November 18, 2012, 05:52:07 PM
Boris Godunov has always been one of my favourite operas, now I'm listening to Khovanschina. Great of course, but one thing that occurs to me to say is that even if Mussorgsky hadn't written great music to go along with the libretto, he would still be a notable historical dramatist. The librettos to these two operas are streets ahead of most opera libretti. I saw an English translation of Pushkin's play Boris Godunov once, Mussorgsky much improved it!
Hmmm. Pushkin, in Russian, is generally regarded as the pinacle of writing. I have to guess that perhaps it is also a translation issue. That said, libretti do tend to distill the action down and eliminate extraneous things. This can have a positive effect (especially if you feel the original is longwinded). Although, it is not exactly as straight-forward as that. Mussorgsky adapted the opera in his revised version using some scenes from one of Karamzin's works, and they were his own additions. It is the revised version we generally hear today (interestingly, the original was rejected because it did not have a female lead/enough female scenes). Thus, in the end, they are not exactly the same, but I have to agree to that it works pretty well (though there were also several revisions/alterations, notable Rimsky-Korsakov, and it was this version that was often performed in Russia for a long time after the revised original had been restored in other places). This opera has a particularly rich history, both in terms of composition and the plot.
Quote from: calyptorhynchus on November 18, 2012, 05:52:07 PM
Boris Godunov has always been one of my favourite operas, now I'm listening to Khovanschina. Great of course, but one thing that occurs to me to say is that even if Mussorgsky hadn't written great music to go along with the libretto, he would still be a notable historical dramatist. The librettos to these two operas are streets ahead of most opera libretti. I saw an English translation of Pushkin's play Boris Godunov once, Mussorgsky much improved it!
Curious.....what version of
Khovanshchina are you listening to?
This is a scorching performance of Khovanshchina:
[asin]B00000E4HS[/asin]
It's the only recording I own of the opera, but I never felt the need to buy another. Abbado is a master of Mussorgsky's music.
Quote from: Mirror Image on November 18, 2012, 08:18:04 PM
This is a scorching performance of Khovanshchina:
[asin]B00000E4HS[/asin]
It's the only recording I own of the opera, but I never felt the need to buy another. Abbado is a master of Mussorgsky's music.
If you ever want to hear the full Shostakovich orchestration, check out: [asin]B005G4YDTE[/asin]
But I agree, that CD is wonderful. As is the DVD production.
Quote from: PaulR on November 18, 2012, 08:27:26 PM
If you ever want to hear the full Shostakovich orchestration, check out: [asin]B005G4YDTE[/asin]
But I agree, that CD is wonderful. As is the DVD production.
Cool, Paul. I'll try and track down an original of the Gergiev.
Yep, I'm listening to the Gergiev, got interrupted though, will have to start at the beginning again.
Going through Mussorgsky at the moment.
Which completion of The Fair at Sorochyntsi is the most satisfactory musically?
And which is the recommended recording of this version?
As a song I like the Songs & Dances of Death from Yi-Kwei Sze as Bass together with Brooks Smith on the piano, sometimes it shivers in your spine 8)
The Pictures are nearly always nice on the Piano, I think
Wow, where has this been all my life, how did I miss this recording!
[asin]B000002S0Q[/asin]
Boris Christoff is amazing. The perfect Mussorgsky bass! 8)
Leo K., do you own this recording?
(http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2466/3877839338_f4a1c68ee4_z.jpg?zz=1)
If not, then BUY IT NOW!!! My favorite Mussorgsky recording bar none. Completely sublime from start to finish.
Quote from: Mirror Image on December 30, 2012, 08:19:36 AM
Leo K., do you own this recording?
(http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2466/3877839338_f4a1c68ee4_z.jpg?zz=1)
If not, then BUY IT NOW!!! My favorite Mussorgsky recording bar none. Completely sublime from start to finish.
I do not, but this looks like my cup of tea! Thanks for the heads up!!!
Another new recording (for me) is Abbado's Khovanschina and it is amazing! Listening to it now actually.
Quote from: Leo K on December 30, 2012, 08:44:13 AM
I do not, but this looks like my cup of tea! Thanks for the heads up!!!
Another new recording (for me) is Abbado's Khovanschina and it is amazing! Listening to it now actually.
Yes, you will enjoy this recording. I hope you can find a copy for a good price. Last time I checked it was out-of-print. Yes, Abbado's
Khovanschina is outstanding. A great performance.
Quote from: Mirror Image on December 30, 2012, 08:19:36 AM
Leo K., do you own this recording?
(http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2466/3877839338_f4a1c68ee4_z.jpg?zz=1)
If not, then BUY IT NOW!!! My favorite Mussorgsky recording bar none. Completely sublime from start to finish.
i was just going to ask about that. yea, that's the i need to get...
Quote from: Leo K on December 30, 2012, 07:49:19 AM
Wow, where has this been all my life, how did I miss this recording!
[asin]B000002S0Q[/asin]
Boris Christoff is amazing. The perfect Mussorgsky bass! 8)
It's a great set, no doubt. There is a set with him performing other Russian greats - very good too.
Quote from: Mirror Image on December 30, 2012, 08:51:27 AM
Yes, you will enjoy this recording. I hope you can find a copy for a good price. Last time I checked it was out-of-print. Yes, Abbado's Khovanschina is outstanding. A great performance.
the dvd is great, too.
Quote from: PaulR on December 30, 2012, 07:35:31 PM
the dvd is great, too.
I'll check it out, Paul. How have you been doing? Listening to anything new? Made any new musical discoveries?
Quote from: Mirror Image on December 30, 2012, 07:40:24 PM
I'll check it out, Paul. How have you been doing? Listening to anything new? Made any new musical discoveries?
I'm home now for another week or two. What I use to listen is back in my apartment in BG, and i don't care for listening to music through headphones unless absolutely necessary, so I haven't been listening much :(
I've been fine, regardless. yourself?
Quote from: PaulR on December 30, 2012, 07:47:15 PM
I'm home now for another week or two. What I use to listen is back in my apartment in BG, and i don't care for listening to music through headphones unless absolutely necessary, so I haven't been listening much :(
I've been fine, regardless. yourself?
I personally like using headphones for classical music. It allows me to pick up so many nuances, harmonic shadings, rhythmic accents, etc. that would, otherwise, be buried through the stereo, but, I realize, everybody has their own preferences. I've been doing pretty good just enjoying some time off from work. Happy New Year!
I'm interested in getting one or more collections of Mussorgsky's piano music, not just PICTURES (though that of course looms large). I was thinking of Michel Béroff's EMI disc. Opinions on that or others would be appreciated.
I have Richter's famous SOFIA RECITAL recording and possibly a couple others by others, but for the moment I'm not near my wall o' discs and my memory is shot.
I'm also quite excited that the Boris Christoff ICON box includes his recordings of the complete (??) Mussorgsky songs. I've gotten some tips from this thread for other vocalists that are key for this music, but I cannot wait to spend time with Christoff.
Quote from: Octave on March 25, 2013, 11:44:50 PM
I'm also quite excited that the Boris Christoff ICON box includes his recordings of the complete (??) Mussorgsky songs. I've gotten some tips from this thread for other vocalists that are key for this music, but I cannot wait to spend time with Christoff.
They are very good and the main reason I bought this box. Of course all the rarities from Cui, Rimsky, Borodin (IIRC) also helped. :D
Speaking of this recording:
[asin]B005G4YDTE[/asin]
Does anyone know what ending Gergiev used? For the rest, he used the Shostakovich...but there is no reprise of the "Dawn over the River Moscow" at the very end which signifies the Shostakovich ending nor is there a reprise of Preobrazhensky March at the very ending which signifies the Rimsky-Korsakov edition. (Which is basically the only difference between them for the ending only). Did Gergiev just decide to just cut both reprises out?
Anatoli Safiulin singing the Songs and Dances of Death is on the Hyperion Please, someone, buy me sale.
Quote from: karlhenning on April 21, 2014, 11:15:06 AM
Anatoli Safiulin singing the Songs and Dances of Death is on the Hyperion Please, someone, buy me sale.
This is also at Berkshire for $6.99. They have a lot of discs from the Hyperion label.
That's where I got mine, back when. Good deal!
All you need is Abbado!
My favorite music recently - Songs and Dances of Death, Sunless and The Nursery orchestrated by Edison Denisov. Edison Denisov orchestrated three vocal cycle of Mussorgsky in 1976 - 1983). The starting material of Mussorgsky Denisov treats as a preliminary sketch of the orchestral version. Since Mussorgsky in his music in the future looked much further than his contemporaries, it opens the possibility of a natural convergence of orchestral colors and sounds with the world of the XX century, the use of techniques that correspond to the orchestral palette Debussy or Mahler.
(http://i59.fastpic.ru/big/2013/0824/d0/f361447265513e6ab04a121799d5b4d0.jpg) (http://i57.fastpic.ru/big/2014/0416/f6/38ebe7a830afe3f57b1a74ff03b9c6f6.jpg)
I relation to an orchestral version of the Pictures, I am rooting for the version of Leonidas Leonardi. It was introduced by Walter Damrosch conducting the NY Philharmonic on December 4th 1924.
http://archives.nyphil.org/index.php/artifact/eced1ecb-6037-4bdb-ba50-5cebaa810d83/fullview (http://archives.nyphil.org/index.php/artifact/eced1ecb-6037-4bdb-ba50-5cebaa810d83/fullview)
http://www.lucksmusic.com/catdetailview_symph.asp?CatalogNo=08431 (http://www.lucksmusic.com/catdetailview_symph.asp?CatalogNo=08431)
(http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u197/Aggelos_05/Music%20Related/NYPhil%20Concerts_4%20Dec%201924_zpsf46pozwn.jpg)
(http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u197/Aggelos_05/Leonardi.jpg)
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Other CDs that I would like to recommend.
(http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2007/Aug07/Henry_Wood_srcd216.jpg)
http://www.classical.net/music/recs/reviews/l/lta00216a.php
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2007/Aug07/Henry_Wood_SRCD216.htm
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2007/Sept07/Wood_SRCD216.htm
http://www.soundstage.com/music/reviews/rev969.htm
(https://www.pristineclassical.com/media/catalog/product/cache/1/thumbnail/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/p/a/pasc444.jpg)
https://www.pristineclassical.com/pasc444.html
http://www.audaud.com/lucien-caillet-studio-recordings-1936-1946-works-of-bach-purcell-turina-caillet-mussorgsky-ormandyreinerstokowskifiedler-pristine-audio/ (http://www.audaud.com/lucien-caillet-studio-recordings-1936-1946-works-of-bach-purcell-turina-caillet-mussorgsky-ormandyreinerstokowskifiedler-pristine-audio/)
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2015/Sep/Cailliet_arrangements_PASC444.htm
(http://cps-static.rovicorp.com/3/JPG_400/MI0003/677/MI0003677258.jpg)
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2014/Feb14/Mussorgsky_pictures_8573016.htm
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2014/Mar14/Mussorgsky_pictures_NBD0036.htm
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2014/Jan14/Mussorgsky_pictures_8573016.htm
http://www.classicalcdreview.com/MC454.html
http://www.allmusic.com/album/mussorgsky-pictures-at-an-exhibition-songs-and-dances-of-death-the-nursery-mw0002592513
(http://www.octavia.co.jp/shop/images/OVCL-489-H1-L.jpg)
http://www.octavia.co.jp/shop/exton/005768.html
http://www.allmusic.com/album/mussorgsky-stokowski-pictures-at-an-exhibition-mw0002565732
http://www.classicalcdreview.com/kyls.html
Quote
Here is this fine recording of Mussorgsky, Debussy and Ravel with the Japan Philharmonic, the Mussorgsky recorded in November 2013, the others in a live concert Dec. 9-10, 2011, all in Suntory Hall. Brilliant performances all, with superb orchestral playing. It seems odd that this Exton issue is a regular CD and not in surround sound—they missed a golden audio opportunity. This is a very expensive disk;excellent, wide-range audio; it should have been multi-channel.
Quote
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7EJlyXbhnUc
Although Ravel's orchestration of Mussorgsky's solo piano work 'Pictures at an Exhibition' remains top of a very long list of its arrangements, Stokowski's is a strong follow-up and often a second choice amongst many conductors. Here is an excerpt from a recent CD of Stokowski's version splendidly played by the Japan Philharmonic under Kazuki Yamada. Curiously, in 'The Old Castle', the score asks for a cor anglais to play the main solo part but Stokowski, in an apparent nod to Ravel, also suggests a saxophone as an alternative. It is that instrument which Yamada chooses in his performance as heard here.
(http://www.calarecords.com/acatalog/l_CACD1030.jpg)
http://www.calarecords.com/acatalog/info_CACD1030.html
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2001/June01/Mussorgsky_Pictures.htm
(http://cps-static.rovicorp.com/3/JPG_400/MI0003/834/MI0003834323.jpg)
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2015/Feb/Mussorgsky_pictures_MAR0553.htm
http://www.allmusic.com/album/mussorgsky-pictures-at-an-exhibition-songs-and-dances-of-death-night-on-bare-mountain-mw0002809991
http://www.sa-cd.net/showtitle/10408
(http://cps-static.rovicorp.com/3/JPG_400/MI0002/884/MI0002884825.jpg)
(http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u197/Aggelos_05/Leibowitz_back_zps87f1fd2b.jpg)
http://store.acousticsounds.com/d/62452/Leibowitz_Royal_Philharmonic_Orchestra-The_Power_of_The_Orchestra-Hybrid_Stereo_SACD
http://www.sa-cd.net/showtitle/6107
http://www.allmusic.com/album/the-power-of-the-orchestra-mw0001957370
Quote
Audiophiles will welcome the Analogue Productions reissue of the famous RCA stereo LP called The Power of the Orchestra. This features René Leibowitz conducting the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in music of Mussorgsky, the Ravel orchestration of Pictures at an Exhibition, and a unique arrangement of A Night on Bare Mountain, recorded in 1962.Collectors will remember the original LP cover which is reproduced on the SACD. Producer Charles Gerhardt and engineer Kenneth Wilkinson had worked with Leibowitz a number of times before, particularly in 1961 when they made their memorable set of Beethoven symphonies, today still one of the best-sounding versions of this music. The Gerhardt/Wilkinson team went all out to make this Mussorgsky disk a sonic spectacular, with some gimmicks, particularly addition of a wind machine and gongs at the climax of Night just before the soft closing passage. Gerhardt told me they decided they didn't want to use the Stokowski ending for Night, and he asked Leibowitz to write "a wild one," which, indeed, he did, and if I recall correctly, Leibowitz did it overnight! At the end of the soft closing passage in the original, we hear the new version: mysterious rumblings in the bass and a Schoenbergesque restatement of the principal theme punctuated by massive gongs. It is quite exciting, indeed. In Pictures, xylophone repeated passages are heard once on each side, to great effect. This is a two-track stereo recording and no attempt has been made to produce "surround" sound—however, the transfer from the analog originals as processed here permits us to hear these exciting performances as never before. It is a premium price issue, but worth it.
http://www.classicalcdreview.com/MC309.html
Points of interest -There are indications that another version by conductor Fabien Sevitzky (
nephew of Sergei Koussevitzky - the person who commissioned Ravel to orchestrate Pictures at an Exhibition) existed once (or still exists?).
Mussorgsky / Fabien Sevitzky : Pictures at an Exhibition, (duration : 24:00 )
Instrumentation : 3 (3rd alt with picc), 2+1, Eb cl, 2+1, 2+1 - 4,4,3,1 - timp, 3perc, bells, cel, glock - hp - pf - str.
http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Bio/Sevitzky-Fabien.htm
-Another rare orchestration with Slavic flavour is the one carried out by Vaclav Smetacek.
Mussorgsky / Vaclav Smetacek : Bydlo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpcnT-BwJI0
http://www.rozhlas.cz/publishing/classical/_zprava/159438
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V%C3%A1clav_Smet%C3%A1%C4%8Dek
instrumentation : 2[1/pic, 2/pic] 2[1.2/Eh] 2[1.2/bcl] 2 — 4[F] 4[C] 3 1 — tmp+perc(xyl, cym, bd, small sd, tri, glsp, chimes, tam tam) — str.
QuoteOne of the composers who set about orchestrating Pictures from an Exhibition was also the conductor Václav Smetáček "in whose life, composing was somewhat of a Cinderella, and when he did embark upon something, it was always from an external impulse only." His instrumentation of Pictures from an Exhibition was composed to be broadcast by the radio station Radiojournal at the outbreak of World War Two, at a time when Ravel was already on the list of forbidden composers.
I like the Henry Wood orchestration on Lyrita. Good to hear a different orchestration.
Quote from: vandermolen on February 20, 2016, 11:28:59 PM
I like the Henry Wood orchestration on Lyrita. Good to hear a different orchestration.
That is an interesting point.
I believe that this thread befits Jason Klein's analysis. It's an eye-opener, especially to those who have a fixation on Ravel's version (I don't mean you vandermolen )
QuoteJason's Klein "Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition: A Comparative Analysis of Several Orchestrations"
http://www.mediafire.com/?eyu8a1sqi2meqya
In the beginning I was fascinated to hear other people's ideas on how to orchestrate this work, and moreover I was quite excited about those who used sumptuous, plush and lavish orchestral sound.
But afterwards I started thinking about who Mussorgsky was and what he was capable of as a symphonist.
Mussorgsky was a rough-hewn and unsophisticated composer. He was by no means an adept orchestral colorist (his good friend Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov was a master orchestral colorist who had many editorial liberties on Mussorgsky's works and completed/orchestrated many of them that were left in an unplayable form). People hear the Mussorgsky-Ravel version and think that what they hear is Modest Mussorgsky.
I would dare to say that what they are listening to is rather 30% Mussorgsky and 70% Ravel. The orchestration bears the signature of the Gallic Ravel sound, which means that his orchestration is the celebration of Maurice Ravel as a master orchestrator and as a Frenchman from the renown French school of composers.
A hypothetical orchestration by Modest Mussorgsky himself would certainly bear far greater resemblance to the orchestral realizations of Mikhail Tushmalov, Leo Funtek, Sergei Gorchakov and perhaps Vladimir Ashkenazy rather than to Maurice Ravel, Leopold Stokowski, Leonidas Leonardi, Sir Henry Wood, Lucien Cailliet, and I don't know who else. Therefore, I consider the conscientious orchestral rendering to be that of Sergei Gorchakov and Mikhail Tushmalov (the latter lamentably made many omissions which doomed his orchestral suite to be in a relatively trimmed-curtailed form). Still, I would like to listen to the Leonidas Leonardi version some day to see what kind of version the people of the Bessel Publisher presented as a rejoinder to the successful Ravel version.....
(http://cps-static.rovicorp.com/3/JPG_400/MI0000/973/MI0000973236.jpg)
http://www.allmusic.com/album/mussorgsky-pictures-at-an-exhibition-prokofiev-symphonie-classique-mw0001808206
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2013/Feb13/Mussorgsky_Pictures_2564659389.htm
http://www.nytimes.com/1992/10/06/arts/review-music-philharmonic-repaints-mussorgsky-s-pictures.html
Quote
I forget how many orchestral versions of Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition there are – I think it's about twenty eight – but apart from the Ravel none of them, except, perhaps, Stokowski's, have become popular with the public. In 1931, nine years after Ravel's version, an authentic version of Mussorgsky's score was published, and this is the one subsequent arrangers have used. Ravel's is an amazing showcase for a virtuoso orchestra but it's not Mussorgsky's Suite, it's far too Frenchified and any awkward corners have been rounded off. Other versions have sought to convey the Russian quality of the music and keep the wild abandon of the original. Sergei Gorchakov's 1954 version is slowly gaining an audience here (Kurt Masur, who has long been a fan of this version, has recorded the piece with the London Philharmonic) and it's easy to see why. It's a thrilling experience, has lots of brilliant orchestration and it is faithful to the original. There's none of the prettiness of Ravel's orchestration and there are many rough edges, as befits the original score. It's certainly a success, and this performance was a fine exposition of the arrangement. I don't see it ever superceding Ravel's version, it's neither pretty enough, nor sufficiently overtly exciting and technicoloured, but at its centre it has a real Russian soul. Nowak brought that out and enjoyed himself in the various moods and emotions on display.
http://www.musicweb-international.com/SandH/2009/Jul-Dec09/rpo2511.htm
A Clinton F. Nieweg chart showing sources and details of arrangements of the Pictures from an Exhibition.http://www.orchestralibrary.com/Nieweg%20Charts/Pictures%20at%20an%20Exhibition%202016.pdf
http://www.orchestralibrary.com/
I have the Stokowski version too, with two 'missing' pictures but I like that version too. I was never that keen on the version by Emerson, Lake and Palmer although the pretentious attribution 'Mussorgsky/Lake' made me laugh, although maybe I am unfair and just a musical snob. 8)
If anybody else got curious, after reading that excellent series of posts, to hear some of the Leonidas Leonardi version, Leonard Slatkin did two movements from it in one of his mashup performances:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOLpBXmPYks
Here you'll hear two Leonardi excerpts, Henry Wood's "Bydlo", and orchestrations by Lucien Cailliet and Sergei Gorchakov.
Slatkin's CD version on Naxos has quite an eclectic assortment of orchestrators, including one Vladimir Ashkenazy:
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/61TxBc-W42L.jpg)
Well, the problem is that Leonidas Leonardi's version calls for huge orchestral forces (meaning more money than what a Mussorgsky-Ravel recording would cost) plus the fact that he fell into obscurity and was not in the standard repertoire for Labels to invest and record it (the standard version has been the Mussorgsky-Ravel eversince the 1920s, and moreover audiences and Mussorgsky lovers didn't even know that an alternative orchestration ever existed for ages. The advent of the internet did justice to that by evening things out a little bit). Even Leonard Slatkin, champion of alternative orchestrations, was previously unaware of the fact that apart from Maurice Ravel's version there were other orchestrators with other ideas. And he admits that he was taken aback when he found out that Kurt Masur was performing the Sergei Gorvchakov version during a concert that he attended.
Leonard Slatkin 1st compendium Suite was the following : 1. Promenade (Lawrence Leonard)
2. Gnomus (Vladimir Ashkenazy)
3. Promenade (Lucien Cailliet)
4. The Old Castle (Sergei Gorchakov)
5. Promenade (Leonidas Leonardi)
6. Tuilleries (Leonidas Leonardi)
7. Bydlo (Henry Wood)
8. Promenade (Lucien Cailliet)
9. Ballet of the chicks (Lucien Cailliet)
10.Goldenberg (Sergei Gorchakov)
11.Promenade (Lucien Cailliet)
12.Limoges (Mikhail Tushmalov)
13.Catacombs (Leopold Stokowski)
14.Con Mortuis (Henry Wood)
15.Baba Yaga (Maurice Ravel)
16.Great Gate (Maurice Ravel)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SqD9zB4TjXw
Quote
For a Proms concert in London's Royal Albert Hall in 1991, Leonard Slatkin introduced his own edition of Mussorgsky's 'Pictures at an Exhibition.' It featured the various 'Promenades' and 'Pictures' in different arrangements by an assortment of orchestrators. Ravel's version is the best known but other arrangers of Mussorgsky's piano work were Leopold Stokowski, Sir Henry Wood, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Mikhail Tushmalov, Lawrence Leonard, Lucien Cailliet, Sergei Gorchakov and Leonidas Leonardi, all of whom were featured in Slatkin's performance. As an encore, he brought the house down with Sir Henry Wood's version of 'The Great Gate of Kiev.'
The television relay of the concert was preceded by a short documentary which featured Slatkin discussing the work with pianist Joanna MacGregor, as well as contributions from Vladimir Ashkenazy and Lawrence Leonard, two of the arrangers featured in his compendium. The individual cue points in the TV programme are shown below.
0:00:40 Feature Documentary
0:12:30 Slatkin Discussion
0:19:15 Philharmonia Proms Performance
0:55:00 Henry Wood's Great Gate of Kiev Encore
You will see Edward Johnson in there into the bargain. He was/is an expert at unearthing rare scores and forsaken orchestral transcriptions, and was once the head-doyen of the Leopold Stokowski society (now disbanded).
Quote
Mussorgsky`s ``Pictures at an Exhibition`` is so familiar to concertgoers in the Ravel orchestration that it comes as a shock to realize there are at least 19 other symphonic versions of the piano suite. Many of these have been lost to history, probably for good reason. But wouldn`t it be nice, just once, to hear the best of the others, if only to gain a new perspective on a warhorse some of us would prefer never hearing again?
That was the theory behind Leonard Slatkin`s experiment in comparative music appreciation with the Chicago Symphony at Thursday night`s subscription concert in Orchestra Hall. Our guest conductor`s tour of the Hartmann gallery drew on orchestrations by nine musicians, including Ravel.
Chronologically, Slatkin`s sequence begins with Mikhail Tushmalov, a student of Rimsky-Korsakov`s who prepared the first known orchestration of the suite. In that form it entered the CSO repertory in 1920, two years before Serge Koussevitzky commissioned the Ravel version. It ends with Vladimir Ashkenazy, whose scoring dates from 1982. In between are such familiar figures as Leopold Stokowski and Henry Wood, as well as such relatively obscure musicians as Leonidas Leonardi.
There are gains and losses. Lucien Caillet`s light, dancey treatment of the unhatched chicks` ballet is funnier than Ravel`s. Wood`s version of ``Bydlo`` tosses in the distant clanging of bells, a very Russian effect that builds to a massive climax before fading into the distance. And for sheer, eerie power and Technicolored sonic splendor, no ``Catacombs`` can top Stokowski`s.
On the other hand, I found the initial statement of the Promenade, as scored by one Lawrence Leonard, a dreadful piece of Hollywood bombast-Give me Ravel`s dapper ``walking`` trumpet any day. And Soviet composer Sergei Gorchakov`s interchanging of the solo instruments favored by Ravel in ``The Old Castle`` and ``Goldenberg and Schmuyle`` is not so striking an idea as to alter one`s preference for the Ravel. The Mussorgsky-Slatkin ``Pictures`` is a musical crazy-quilt, and inevitably the differences in style are telling.
In any case, I applaud Slatkin for his enterprise and the CSO for being such enthusiastic sports about the whole thing. The crowd seemed to find it a welcome departure from routine.
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1990-11-02/news/9004010000_1_leonard-slatkin-ravel-sergei-gorchakov
Brian, I have a feeling that the Leonard Slatkin CD on Naxos has something wrong with it: a flat/dull audio engineering.
Have a go at this one and you'll come to understand what I am talking about. It features Leonard Slatkin's 2nd compendium suite (as does the Naxos release you posted)
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/5105yl2HtSL.jpg)
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51XRUlqxH2L.jpg)
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2005/Aug05/Pictures_pines_2564619542.htm
Quote
MOUSSORGSKY: Pictures at an Exhibition; RESPIGHI: Pines of Rome BBC Symphony & Chorus/ Leonard Slatkin; BBC Wales/ Tadaaki Otaka-Warner 61954-58 min
Some years ago, Leonard Slatkin took up the Gorchakov arrangement of Moussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition because it is more Slavic than the standard Ravel orchestration, and then he was stimulated to check out other orchestrations. The resulting suite, combining arrangements by Lawrence Leonard, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Lucien Cailliet, Sergei Gorchakov, Leonidas Leonardi, Sir Henry Wood, Michail Tushmalov, Leopold Stokowski, and closing out with Ravel's 'Baba Yaga' and 'Great Gate of Kiev', Slatkin played often to great acclaim. Although he never recorded it commercially, it was included in the six-disc St Louis set celebrating Slatkin's 17-year run with the orchestra, reviewed by Tom Godell (Jan/Feb 1996, p 203).
Since then he has had second thoughts on the subject, stimulated in no small part by Edward Johnson, doyen of the Leopold Stokowski Society, who urged Slatkin to take a look at the wildly over-the-top 'Great Gate' by the Australian composer and arranger Douglas Gamley. It calls for organ and men's chorus, along with a huge consort of brass and bells. No sooner did Johnson send a copy of it to Slatkin--it was recorded by Charles Gerhardt early on for Reader's Digest-- then Slatkin Emailed him back, "Love the Gamley ... Find the score!" From such acorns do mighty oaks grow.
Slatkin has retained only one section from the earlier montage, Cailliet's 'Ballet of the Unhatched Chicks'. A rundown follows, including comparisons with other recordings where possible:
Promenade 1 (Ellison). The name may sound Welsh, but Ellison is an American, a structural engineer by trade, born in 1957 and currently violinist in the Fort Worth Orchestra. In his transcription each section is styled after a different composer, ranging from Scheherazade and Die Meistersinger to the 1812 (though his orchestration does not include a part for cannon...!) In the opening 'Promenade' he emulates Britten's Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra, introducing the choirs one by one beginning with the percussion--the familiar theme is first heard in the tubular bells. From here he works his way up to full orchestra and even remembers to pay homage to Purcell's Abdelazar--listen for the nattering bassoon beginning at 0:40--"not the same phrase used by Britten" says annotator David Nice, though the part at 0:44 certainly does sound familiar! This seems to me an interesting if not entirely convincing effect; I'd like to hear what he does with the other pictures!
Gnomus (Gorchakov). Here at least we're on familiar ground, as Gorchakov's darkly Slavic Pictures has been recorded a couple of times, first by Kurt Masur (Teldec; May/June 1992) and later by Karl Anton Rickenbacher (RCA; July/Aug 2002), the latter unfortunately padded out with commentary by Peter Ustinov. Gorchakov makes of Hartmann's gnome a far more sinister figure than Ravel, and Slatkin's broad tempos only heighten the awkward movement and malevolent character of the little fellow. But the bass line comes across better with Masur--even more so the deep-throated gong-and actually I like Rickenbacher best of all once you program out Ustinov's insufferable ramblings. (Or we could have Slatkin record the whole thing.)
Promenade 2 (Goehr). Goehr of course is far better known as a conductor; but he also compiled a Pictures that adds a vibraphone to the usual mix of percussion (you won't hear it here). This he put together for use by smaller orchestras, and the introspective mood of strings, winds, and muted brass, beginning with solo viola, makes for a calming influence after the fearsome gnome's antics.
The Old Castle (Naoumoff). I dismissed the Naoumoff as a turgid mess when Alcar brought it out a few years back (July/Aug 2002). It is ostensibly a sort of piano concerto, but the orchestra has all the good tunes, with the piano pretty much relegated to commentary. Naoumoff eschews Ravel's familiar tenor sax in favor of alto flute for the amorous bard; but here the piano is so far forward you can hardly hear the flute. Worse, it sounds like a cocktail lounge piano. You might want to skip this track.
Promenade 3 & Tuileries (Van Keulen). No, I never heard of him either, but this wind band arrangement by the bass clarinetist Van Keulen--born in 1943, same as me--shows what can be done without strings or percussion, stark Russian brooding in the 'Promenade' contrasting effectively with the Gallic delicacy of the Tuileries gardens and children at play. Perhaps some of our more enterprising wind ensembles might look into this one.
Bydlo (Ashkenazy). The Russian-born Ashkenazy wanted to return the Pictures to its Slavic roots and also correct the numerous mistakes that cropped up in the Rimsky edition and were dutifully recreated by Ravel. In 'Bydlo' Moussorgsky intended to have the Polish oxcart fortissimo from the start. I approve of Ravel having it slowly approach, wheel past, and fade into the distance, but Ashkenazy will have none of it, and he makes that clear right off the bat with four French horns blaring away.
.........................................................
*2nd Sep 2004*
Ravel has more or less cornered the market when it comes to the orchestration of Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition. It has become a classic.
But there are well over two dozen other versions and, last night, Leonard Slatkin, celebrating his 60th birthday, guided the BBC Symphony Orchestra through a collage of assorted arrangements.
Before the interval, he conducted excerpts from Britten's The Prince of the Pagodas that caught the ballet's sensuousness, stealth and sparkle, and Michael Collins was the agile soloist in John Corigliano's cleverly written Clarinet Concerto, a virtuoso piece that seemed to demand an awful lot of effort for such innocuous results.
However, the Mussorgsky sequence was worth doing as a jeu d'esprit. There are 10 pictures and several linking "promenades" in the original piano suite – 15 items in all, each played here in an arrangement by a different composer.
It is odd that Rimsky-Korsakov never had a go at it: he was quick enough to apply his orchestral brush to other Mussorgsky scores when he thought them too primitive, and Pictures might be thought to have been an irresistible temptation.
But, in this instance, he passed the buck to Mikhail Tushmalov, who, by the 1880s, had already produced the first orchestral elaboration. One of the ones that followed, in 1915, was by none other than the founder of the Proms, Sir Henry Wood. And if his great lumbering orchestration of "Two Polish Jews, One Rich, One Poor" is anything to go by, it is hardly surprising that he suppressed his version after hearing the Ravel.
Even when Ravel's score had taken a hold, others still felt free to have their say, including that uninhibited arch-transcriber Leopold Stokowski, whose account of "The Hut on Fowl's Legs" could certainly not be accused of good taste. Indeed, with the exception of the chirpy "Ballet of the Unhatched Chicks" by Lucien Cailliet, none of the orchestrations here had Ravel's finesse.
And after the excesses of Douglas Gamley's "Great Gate of Kiev" (with organ and chorus), nobody could feel guilty about preferring the stark realities of Mussorgsky's original.
Quote from: PaulR on May 12, 2013, 06:26:03 PM
Speaking of this recording:
[asin]B005G4YDTE[/asin]
Does anyone know what ending Gergiev used? For the rest, he used the Shostakovich...but there is no reprise of the "Dawn over the River Moscow" at the very end which signifies the Shostakovich ending nor is there a reprise of Preobrazhensky March at the very ending which signifies the Rimsky-Korsakov edition. (Which is basically the only difference between them for the ending only). Did Gergiev just decide to just cut both reprises out?
I recorded a broadcast of this production on french TV. As said it uses the Shostakovich orchestration, with its own ending. It is 25 tminutes longer than the version used by Abbado in its Vienna production
[asin]B000059H8A[/asin]
which uses the Stravinsky ending.
Musically, Abbado version is great, but the image quality leaves somewhat to be desired compared to the HD Gergiev version from the Marinsky theater.
Do you agree or disagree? : Deborah Mawer in her 2000 Cambridge Companion to Musorgsky writes that his Pictures at an Exhibition would possibly not have gained its place in the musical canon, even as a piano work, had it not been for Ravel's transcription." Now "possibly" is a very loose word - nearly anything is possible - but I rather think Exhibition is more than sufficiently strong to have secured its own spot sans Ravel (though the latter did not by any means inhibit appreciation of the original, judging by the talented pianists who have performed it.)
Quote from: Ghost Sonata on February 01, 2017, 02:05:55 PM
Do you agree or disagree? : Deborah Mawer in her 2000 Cambridge Companion to Musorgsky writes that his Pictures at an Exhibition would possibly not have gained its place in the musical canon, even as a piano work, had it not been for Ravel's transcription."
Agree. Which is fortunate, because the original is orders of magnitude better than the orchestration. What a pity it would have been had it faded into oblivion.
Agree. Consider this factoid: I was forty years old or more before I heard the piano version, although I have known the Ravel version since I was a kid.
I don't know enough about the reception history of the piece but it seems to be the case that the Ravel orchestration gave it a huge boost in popularity. My case it was not as extreme as Jeffrey's but still something like 15 vs. 25 because the orchestration is often one of the first pieces one gets to know when becoming interested in classical music. Whereas the original version by now has its firm place in the repertoire, this seems a more recent development; it is not one of the most popular pieces and there are many pianists who have not played it.
Quote from: Todd on February 01, 2017, 03:04:23 PM
Agree. Which is fortunate, because the original is orders of magnitude better than the orchestration. What a pity it would have been had it faded into oblivion.
This.
I vehemently disagree, for the simple reason that pianists, being the beasts they are, would never let this monumental set of pieces alone; that would be enough over time to give the work a decent relative prominence "in the rep/literature," even if it escaped those who only listen to orchestral music.
What is your favorite recording of Pictures at an Exhibition? The one you would use to "sell" someone on the work if they've never heard it before? I ask because I just heard what I consider a subpar performance from Fabrizio Ventura and the Sinfonieorchester Munster. Very unmusical. I recall hearing various performances that were devastating in their impact but forgot which recordings those were. Perhaps Solti/Chicago?
Quote from: relm1 on July 10, 2017, 03:52:28 PM
What is your favorite recording of Pictures at an Exhibition? The one you would use to "sell" someone on the work if they've never heard it before? I ask because I just heard what I consider a subpar performance from Fabrizio Ventura and the Sinfonieorchester Munster. Very unmusical. I recall hearing various performances that were devastating in their impact but forgot which recordings those were. Perhaps Solti/Chicago?
Not the version by Emerson, Lake and Palmer. ???
But I like this version:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Mussorgsky-Pictures-Exhibition-Koussevitzky-1930-1947/dp/B06Y18G9LR/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1499752911&sr=8-5&keywords=Mussorgsky+pictures
Was very pleased to visit the 'Great Gate of Kiev' when I was in Kyiv recently.
"We're gonna give you Pictures at an Exhibition"!!!! :o ;D
(http://i.imgur.com/QobUlwV.jpg)
Quote from: cilgwyn on July 11, 2017, 05:18:42 AM
"We're gonna give you Pictures at an Exhibition"!!!! :o ;D
(http://i.imgur.com/QobUlwV.jpg)
Oh No! Aaaaaaaaarrrrrgggghhhhhhh
Curious to know why Sorochintsy Fair isn't better known considering it features the version of Night on Bald Mountain that is closest to the version arranged by Rimsky-Korsakov that made it so famous.............any ideas?
Is that Abbado disc still a go-to for "other stuff"? Maybe I need some Mussorgsky? All I have is a very slow Giulini/SONY with Berlin. Used to have Karajan way back... had the Christoff set...
eh... uhmmm...
Quote from: snyprrr on July 11, 2017, 05:04:26 PM
Is that Abbado disc still a go-to for "other stuff"? Maybe I need some Mussorgsky? All I have is a very slow Giulini/SONY with Berlin. Used to have Karajan way back... had the Christoff set...
eh... uhmmm...
Yes, always liked that disc.
There are actually two Abbado discs with "other stuff"; one on RCA ca. 1980 and one on Sony from the 1990s.
Quote from: Jo498 on July 11, 2017, 11:03:42 PM
There are actually two Abbado discs with "other stuff"; one on RCA ca. 1980 and one on Sony from the 1990s.
Mine was RCA I'm sure - I had the LP originally and it got played a lot.
Here it is:
[asin]B000003FBY[/asin]
It is availably very cheaply, second-hand, on the Amazon UK and US sites.
The RCA has been re-issued and is even new fairly cheap (around 8 EUR). I have actually both because I bought the RCA not realizing that I had the Sony in a box.. I have not systematically compared them, one reviewer clearly prefers the RCA sonically; they overlap in most important pieces but the Sony has a few vocal numbers and the "Intermezzo" thrown in. They are so cheap that those interested can get both.
[asin]B00ISH20YG[/asin] [asin]B00008A8OX[/asin]
I like Fritz Reiner's recording best. I like the way he brings out all the grotesquerie and eeriness of the score. It's spooky and exciting. The fill-ups are good too. The sound quality is very good for the day. You can always give it a bit more bass,anyway.
I do like the Emerson,Lake and Palmer when I'm in the mood for some 70's excess.!! ;D It was originally a piano score,anyway! I'm not really too keen on Ravel,to be honest. A great composer,undoubtedly. Just not my cup of tea. And don't tell me to try this or that by him,because I've tried hard over the years. Debussy! Now you're talking! I like Debussy. :)
I like this version very much and have heard it live:
[asin]B000U9XG2K[/asin]
Actually I had the E L and P version on LP and did not mind it that much.
That sounds very interesting. I'll certainly keep that one in mind. The Stokowski is the one that gets the most attention,after the Ravel. I taped a recording off the radio once,and I think I preferred it,in some ways! I can't remember who the conductor was? I must admit I do actually rather like ELP (reduced to Palmer,now!). Their Pictures at an Exhibition isn't really them at their best;but it's just ott fun,when I'm in the right mood. Keith Emerson and Carl Palmer were good musicians,which helps. The worst bit has to be where Lake sings lyrics written to Mussorgsky's music!! ??? :o ??? Excrutiating stuff,but unintentionally hilarious,imho! Their best album is Brain Salad Surgery. Perhaps they needed some ?!! I also had the Tomita album. My sister bought it for me,thinking it was the ELP album,which I wanted at the time. Have you ever heard this? Tomita actually taking the Ballet of the Unhatched Chicks literally,with clucking sounds to Mussorgsky's music!! ;D How bad can it get,eh?!! I remember playing the track to some friends years ago,who promptly laughed so much they actually fell of their chairs!! ??? ::)
(http://i.imgur.com/AGIiQRg.jpg)
(The original Lp sleeve design)
This one isn't bad...it's the Ashkenazy orchestration.
https://www.amazon.com/Pictures-At-Exhibition-Orchestra-Piano/dp/B0000041Q6
If interested, the full score can be viewed online at the publisher here: http://www.boosey.com/cr/music/Modeste-Moussorgsky-Pictures-at-an-Exhibition-orch-Ashkenazy/4615
I've just taken delivery of the Briliant Sorochintsi Fair and discovered it doesn't come with an English libretto.
Does anyone know of a downloadable English libretto (IDSLP or whatever the site is called only has a piano and Russian vocal text).
Quote from: calyptorhynchus on August 22, 2017, 12:04:04 AM
I've just taken delivery of the Briliant Sorochintsi Fair and discovered it doesn't come with an English libretto.
Does anyone know of a downloadable English libretto (IDSLP or whatever the site is called only has a piano and Russian vocal text).
http://www.brilliantclassics.com/media/445970/94670-Mussorgsky-Edition-Liner-Notes-Sung-texts-download-file.pdf
Quote from: cilgwyn on July 13, 2017, 02:37:06 AM
That sounds very interesting. I'll certainly keep that one in mind. The Stokowski is the one that gets the most attention,after the Ravel. I taped a recording off the radio once,and I think I preferred it,in some ways! I can't remember who the conductor was? I must admit I do actually rather like ELP (reduced to Palmer,now!). Their Pictures at an Exhibition isn't really them at their best;but it's just ott fun,when I'm in the right mood. Keith Emerson and Carl Palmer were good musicians,which helps. The worst bit has to be where Lake sings lyrics written to Mussorgsky's music!! ??? :o ??? Excrutiating stuff,but unintentionally hilarious,imho! Their best album is Brain Salad Surgery. Perhaps they needed some ?!! I also had the Tomita album. My sister bought it for me,thinking it was the ELP album,which I wanted at the time. Have you ever heard this? Tomita actually taking the Ballet of the Unhatched Chicks literally,with clucking sounds to Mussorgsky's music!! ;D How bad can it get,eh?!! I remember playing the track to some friends years ago,who promptly laughed so much they actually fell of their chairs!! ??? ::)
(http://i.imgur.com/AGIiQRg.jpg)
(The original Lp sleeve design)
Am not a great fan of Tomita!
Quote from: vandermolen on August 22, 2017, 02:06:16 AM
Am not a great fan of Tomita!
My girlfriend's dog hated him too! There was a part of "The Gnome" at which she never failed to bark angrily.
Quote from: relm1 on July 10, 2017, 03:52:28 PM
What is your favorite recording of Pictures at an Exhibition? The one you would use to "sell" someone on the work if they've never heard it before? I ask because I just heard what I consider a subpar performance from Fabrizio Ventura and the Sinfonieorchester Munster. Very unmusical. I recall hearing various performances that were devastating in their impact but forgot which recordings those were. Perhaps Solti/Chicago?
Celi DG or EMI.
Quote from: North Star on August 22, 2017, 01:48:58 AM
http://www.brilliantclassics.com/media/445970/94670-Mussorgsky-Edition-Liner-Notes-Sung-texts-download-file.pdf
Unfortunately that one is a 92 page document which has texts and translations of Boris Godunov, Kovanshchina, various songs &c, but not Sorochintsi Fair. A large part of the English in that document appears to be Google translated from the Russian, some parts are quite hilarious.
Quote from: calyptorhynchus on August 22, 2017, 01:32:37 PM
Unfortunately that one is a 92 page document which has texts and translations of Boris Godunov, Kovanshchina, various songs &c, but not Sorochintsi Fair. A large part of the English in that document appears to be Google translated from the Russian, some parts are quite hilarious.
Well, damn. I should have looked closer..
I've listened to the first act of Sorochintsi Fair with the aid of a synopsis and the Russian vocal score. What an amazing piece, why isn't it more popular? it certainly makes my top ten opera list (assuming the next two acts are just as good).
Still a bit handicapped without a libretto. Can someone who owns a copy of Kobbe's Complete Opera Book tell me if that work has an English libretto for SF in it, if so I might invest in a copy.
I searched for an English libretto without success, but I did find a French libretto which I have now translated. So here are the French and English alongside each other:
http://www.mediafire.com/file/yrqdsjwo8r50tq0/Sorochintsy_Fair.docx
If anyone who knows French would care to point out any mistranslations, or if anyone who knows Russian would care to point out where the French (and my English) are far from the original, then I would be very grateful.
(https://i.scdn.co/image/13cbb6f3b731441d759411ca1629bbbabd4530f7)
Boris Godunov - Symphonic synthesis. It's my first listen from this CD. A pleasurable music, beautifully memorable, glorious. Mussorgsky has been a blind spot for me, I think it happens because other composers/musicians have orchestrated his works. In any case, this orchestration by Stokowski is marvelous.
Quote from: SymphonicAddict on September 12, 2017, 07:07:58 PM
(https://i.scdn.co/image/13cbb6f3b731441d759411ca1629bbbabd4530f7)
Boris Godunov - Symphonic synthesis. It's my first listen from this CD. A pleasurable music, beautifully memorable, glorious. Mussorgsky has been a blind spot for me, I think it happens because other composers/musicians have orchestrated his works. In any case, this orchestration by Stokowski is marvelous.
Hi,
S.A., I haven't heard that particular recording, but if you enjoy Stokowski's version, and are looking for another recording, I recommend this one by Cleveland/Oliver Knussen.
[asin]B0000YWFMM[/asin]
Quote from: TheGSMoeller on September 12, 2017, 07:58:08 PM
Hi, S.A., I haven't heard that particular recording, but if you enjoy Stokowski's version, and are looking for another recording, I recommend this one by Cleveland/Oliver Knussen.
[asin]B0000YWFMM[/asin]
Thanks for the recommendation
TheGSMoeller! I'll keep it in mind. In fact, I'd like to listen to the complete opera. I'm not a big opera fan, but this work seems to deserve it.
Both of those Stokowski CDs are excellent. I know it's cheating but I love the 'Boris Godunov: Symphonic Synthesis'; however it is also, together with Vaughan Williams's 'Pilgrim's Progress' one of the only operas that I listen to and greatly admire.
CD Of The Week: The Evanescent Elegance Of Paul Lewis' Pictures At An Exhibition
(https://blogs-images.forbes.com/jenslaurson/files/2017/10/Forbes_Classical-CD-of-the-Week_MUSsORGSKY_SCHUMAN_PAUL_LEWIS_HARMONIA-MUNDI_Laurson_960.jpg?width=960)
Always really WANTED to like Paul Lewis -- but never quite warmed up to his recordings (or live performances, for that matter). This changes that.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/jenslaurson/2017/10/26/cd-of-the-week-the-evanescent-elegance-of-paul-lewis-pictures-at-an-exhibition/ (https://www.forbes.com/sites/jenslaurson/2017/10/26/cd-of-the-week-the-evanescent-elegance-of-paul-lewis-pictures-at-an-exhibition/)
Quote from: calyptorhynchus on September 06, 2017, 12:06:47 AM
I searched for an English libretto without success, but I did find a French libretto which I have now translated. So here are the French and English alongside each other:
http://www.mediafire.com/file/yrqdsjwo8r50tq0/Sorochintsy_Fair.docx
If anyone who knows French would care to point out any mistranslations, or if anyone who knows Russian would care to point out where the French (and my English) are far from the original, then I would be very grateful.
I got a couple of suggestions from readers, and from readers on another forum. I have now placed a revised version as a download from the Wikipedia page on the opera.
(https://i.postimg.cc/zfhHZ4wy/Modeste.jpg)
I arranged this masterpiece too! And performed it. There are over 600 arrangements of this great, great work! It lends itself very well to arranging.
https://clyp.it/poon3wy3
^ relm1, what is this?? something you did on a computer?
Quote from: Scion7 on October 11, 2020, 05:46:09 PM
^ relm1, what is this?? something you did on a computer?
No, that was something from the performance. I played bass trombone in the orchestra and recorded it too! I wish I could remember where that list of all the arrangements were but there might even be 700 by now. It's a great, great work to arrange. Of course Ravel's casts a very big shadow but I liked Ashkenazy's too which restores a few more promenades missed in Ravel's version plus is more Russian, less French for example.
Quote from: relm1 on October 12, 2020, 05:58:49 AM
No, that was something from the performance. I played bass trombone in the orchestra and recorded it too! I wish I could remember where that list of all the arrangements were but there might even be 700 by now. It's a great, great work to arrange. Of course Ravel's casts a very big shadow but I liked Ashkenazy's too which restores a few more promenades missed in Ravel's version plus is more Russian, less French for example.
I always think Ravel was a fairly improbable arranger for this most Russian of works! I enjoy the "composite" version that Slatkin put together - so interesting to hear different arranger/composers juxtaposed againt each other;
(https://cdn.naxos.com/SharedFiles/images/cds/others/8.570716.gif)