Mussorgsky's monumental 1874 work performed with precision and drama by the National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine in 2001.
Mussorgsky's 1874 suite Pictures at an Exhibition, a tribute to the versatile artist Viktor Hartmann, has proveed perhaps the most popular of all the composer's works, both in its original version for piano and in the colourful orchestral version of Ravel presented here. Linked by Promenades for the visitor to the exhibition, Mussorgsky represents in music a varied collection, from the Market of Limages and the Catacombs to the final Great Gate of Kiev. This recording also presents two versions of the orchestral favourite Night on the Bare Mountain, an orchestral witches' sabbath.
Review
These brilliant, hard-driving performances bring back (happy) memories of Russian orchestras of the 1960s and a style of playing that has all but disappeared. The performances aren't subtle, but then neither is the music, and my how Theodore Kuchar and Co. deliver the goods! Why don't we hear playing like this anymore in music that practically defines the word "excitement?" The other two short pieces, the Hopak and Golitsin's Exile, simply put the icing on the cake. Don't let the cheap price, the not-terribly-well-known performers, or the brevity of this review prevent you from trying out this really gutsy and very well recorded disc (probably the best sonics from this source thus far). You'll be missing a real treat if you do. - Classics Today 5/5
