I have recently been re-listening to some works by the great Russian Romantic Modest Mussorgsky, most notably his Pictures at an Exhibition, completed in 1874 as a group of pieces for piano. The work was notably later orchestrated by Ravel in 1922, and a little bit more background about the famous work can be found here.
While the work is most commonly heard in its orchestrated form, the original piano piece occasionally comes out in virtuoso piano recitals(it is quite a demanding work - Ravel didn't need to add much new material to thicken out the orchestral texture!). Both of these forms are captured extremely well on a Decca Eloquence recording featuring the Russian virtuoso Vladimir Ashkenazy, Conductor Zubin Mehta and the Los Angeles Philharmonic orchestra. An entry for the cd can be found here at CD Universe, for some reason it is not available to view on the online Decca catalogue.
The orchestral work as presented by Zubin Mehta is nothing short of absolutely stunning. There is a brilliant control of balance, and a vibrancy in the playing that I imagine would be hard to beat. It is not without its minor flaws, but these are incidental to any real orchestral recording. On my most recent listen through I picked up maybe 2 or 3 tiny little exposed intonation slips. As a personal preference, I would like to see the second section of the Gnomus piece played slightly slower, closer in ideal to the piano recording, but I can see the logic in Mehta's interpretation. The quicker tempo more easily allows a build to a horrifying intensity in the music. On the whole, the performance is very much polished and well presented, and I am impressed by the general cohesion of the orchestra. While not perfect, the recording still functions as an extremely high quality presentation of the work. For anyone who hasn't heard it yet this would be an absolutely fantastic introduction.
Vladimir Ashkenazy's piano presentation of the work is of a similar quality, probably even higher. It is sometimes said among musicians that it takes a Russian performer to truly perform a Russian work. While I disagree with that statement being entirely true, you can certainly see a basis for it in performances such as this. While wringing every ounce of emotion out of the music that he can, it is inspiring to see that Ashkenazy doesn't lose track of the bigger picture. He never climaxes too early and the pieces never run out of energy. I would find it hard to believe that this interpretation could be topped - for me it is the ultimate performance of the work and in addition to serving the piece admirably, it is an extremely intelligently considered interpretation, immaculately delivered.
Coupled with high quality and informative program notes, this package couldn't be more complete. If the opportunity is ever available, I recomend snapping up this CD and enjoying some incredibly masterful performances of an impressive piece.
Cover picture taken from CD Universe
The orchestral work as presented by Zubin Mehta is nothing short of absolutely stunning. There is a brilliant control of balance, and a vibrancy in the playing that I imagine would be hard to beat. It is not without its minor flaws, but these are incidental to any real orchestral recording. On my most recent listen through I picked up maybe 2 or 3 tiny little exposed intonation slips. As a personal preference, I would like to see the second section of the Gnomus piece played slightly slower, closer in ideal to the piano recording, but I can see the logic in Mehta's interpretation. The quicker tempo more easily allows a build to a horrifying intensity in the music. On the whole, the performance is very much polished and well presented, and I am impressed by the general cohesion of the orchestra. While not perfect, the recording still functions as an extremely high quality presentation of the work. For anyone who hasn't heard it yet this would be an absolutely fantastic introduction.
Vladimir Ashkenazy's piano presentation of the work is of a similar quality, probably even higher. It is sometimes said among musicians that it takes a Russian performer to truly perform a Russian work. While I disagree with that statement being entirely true, you can certainly see a basis for it in performances such as this. While wringing every ounce of emotion out of the music that he can, it is inspiring to see that Ashkenazy doesn't lose track of the bigger picture. He never climaxes too early and the pieces never run out of energy. I would find it hard to believe that this interpretation could be topped - for me it is the ultimate performance of the work and in addition to serving the piece admirably, it is an extremely intelligently considered interpretation, immaculately delivered.
Coupled with high quality and informative program notes, this package couldn't be more complete. If the opportunity is ever available, I recomend snapping up this CD and enjoying some incredibly masterful performances of an impressive piece.
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