Mussorgsky

[BasilValentine]

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.

[Turner]

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.

[calyptorhynchus]

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.

[North Star]

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..

[calyptorhynchus]

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.

[calyptorhynchus]

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.

[SymphonicAddict]

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.

[TheGSMoeller]

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]

[SymphonicAddict]

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.

[vandermolen]

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.

[SurprisedByBeauty]

CD Of The Week: The Evanescent Elegance Of Paul Lewis' Pictures At An Exhibition

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/

[calyptorhynchus]

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.

[Scion7]

[relm1]

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

[Scion7]

^ relm1, what is this??  something you did on a computer? 

[relm1]

^ 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.

[Roasted Swan]

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;