Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition (CD review)

Also, original piano version; Night on Bare Mountain; Tchaikovsky: The Seasons. Alexander Warenberg, piano; Igor Markevitch, Gewandhaus Orchestra Leipzig. Brilliant Classics 94931 (2 CD set).

As you no doubt know, the Russian composer Modest Mussorgsky (1839-1881) wrote Pictures at an Exhibition in 1874 originally as a piano suite. He called his little tone poems "sound pictures," but they didn't catch on too well with the public. Years later, several people orchestrated the suite, the most famous and most often recorded being the 1922 version we have here by French composer Maurice Ravel. The value of the present set, beyond a pretty good rendition of the orchestral arrangement, is having both the original piano version and the Ravel orchestration together, albeit on separate discs. The other two items, Night on Bare Mountain and Tchaikovsky's The Seasons are icing on the cake.

Anyway, the set begins with the Ravel orchestration of Pictures at an Exhibition, performed by Igor Markevitch and the Gewandhaus Orchestra Leipzig. Mussorgsky based the various sections of the suite on his musical impressions of paintings by his friend, the artist and architect Viktor Hartmann. The idea of the work is that one is wandering through a picture gallery viewing the paintings, which the composer recreates in music, going so far as to give us a musical number, the Promenade, to accompany our stroll from time to time.

I had never heard Markevitch's recording of Pictures before, but I had long admired the Maestro's work. So it didn't surprise me that I liked his interpretation as much as I did. There is more energy in this reading than in most other renditions, even among my favorites like Reiner (RCA), Muti (EMI), Ansermet (Decca), and Maazel (Telarc, LIM).

And it's not just that Markevitch takes each section at a fast clip; he invests each little tone picture with genuine personality, too. For instance, the "Promenades" are quick but unhurried excursions around the gallery; "The Ballet of the Unhatched Chicks" is merrily affectionate; "The Market" exhibits a wonderful feeling of busy scurrying about; and "The Hut on Fowl's Legs" conveys an appropriate sense of manic dread. In fact, it's only in the final segment, "The Great Gate of Kiev," that Markevitch begins to seem a little perfunctory, not quite capping off the proceedings in as grand a style as I might have liked. Nevertheless, that's not to say it's a dull ending, just not quite as emotion-packed as I'd have liked. Overall, this is a fine rendering of an old favorite.

The other selection on disc one is Mussorgsky's Night on Bare Mountain, here done in the familiar reorchestration by Rimsky-Korsakov. It's another musical picture that Mussorgsky wrote a few years before Pictures at an Exhibition, this earlier one depicting St. John's Eve on Bald Mountain; that is, a witches' Sabbath occurring on St. John's Eve, which the composer finished up on that very night, June 23, 1867. Whatever, Markevitch rips through the piece in short order, serving up most of the music's images in exciting fashion. It's not really as frightening as it could be, though, as the conductor seems more interested in producing thrills over developing much fear or suspense.

Igor Markevitch
Disc two offers us a pair of piano solos by pianist Alexander Warenberg. The first one is the original piano version of Pictures at an Exhibition. Warenberg's way with the Pictures is rather gentle, as though he were handling museum pieces with kid gloves. They sound lovely in their own way, but they don't always convey the emotions I associate with the music. Warenberg's interpretation possesses little of the vivid character I heard more recently as part of a recital by pianist James Brawn on MSR. Still, there's a certain piquant charm in Warenberg's more-cautious, laid-back readings, particularly in the "Hut" segment, where he finally comes alive. It doesn't stop him from a rather sedate rendition of the concluding "Gate," though.

The second item on disc two is The Seasons by Peter Tchaikovsky (1840-1893). It's a set of twelve relatively brief character pieces for solo piano that the composer wrote in 1875. I enjoyed Warenberg's Tchaikovsky more than I did his Mussorgsky. The pianist appears to be a most-sensitive soul, and his temperament seems to suit the nature of Tchaikovsky's music. It's lonely and melancholy, shining and enthusiastic by turns, nicely reflecting the moods of each of the months.

Markevitch made his Mussorgsky recording in 1973, releasing it originally on an Eterna LP. Warenberg recorded his piano version of the Mussorgsky plus the Tchaikovsky piece for Brilliant Classics in 2000; Brilliant Classics reissued them both on the present two-disc set in 2014. The sound in the orchestral numbers is vibrant, alive, rich, and resonant. It's also a tad brighter and more forward than one usually hears from the Gewandhaus Orchestra, which generally sounds a bit darker and more golden-hued than this. Nevertheless, the detail shines through admirably, and despite a slightly close miking arrangement there is plenty of orchestral depth. Additionally, you'll find a fairly wide dynamic range, reasonably strong impact, and a decent sense of hall ambience. The piano sound is lighter, more distant, quieter, and more rounded. It's more of a mild, easy listening sound than the orchestral material.

JJP

To listen to a brief excerpt from this album, click here:


Meet the Staff

Meet the Staff
John J. Puccio, Founder and Contributor

Understand, I'm just an everyday guy reacting to something I love. And I've been doing it for a very long time, my appreciation for classical music starting with the musical excerpts on the Big Jon and Sparkie radio show in the early Fifties and the purchase of my first recording, The 101 Strings Play the Classics, around 1956. In the late Sixties I began teaching high school English and Film Studies as well as becoming interested in hi-fi, my audio ambitions graduating me from a pair of AR-3 speakers to the Fulton J's recommended by The Stereophile's J. Gordon Holt. In the early Seventies, I began writing for a number of audio magazines, including Audio Excellence, Audio Forum, The Boston Audio Society Speaker, The American Record Guide, and from 1976 until 2008, The $ensible Sound, for which I served as Classical Music Editor.

Today, I'm retired from teaching and use a pair of bi-amped VMPS RM40s loudspeakers for my listening. In addition to writing for the Classical Candor blog, I served as the Movie Review Editor for the Web site Movie Metropolis (formerly DVDTown) from 1997-2013. Music and movies. Life couldn't be better.

Karl Nehring, Editor and Contributor

For more than 20 years I was the editor of The $ensible Sound magazine and a regular contributor to both its equipment and recordings review pages. I would not presume to present myself as some sort of expert on music, but I have a deep love for and appreciation of many types of music, "classical" especially, and have listened to thousands of recordings over the years, many of which still line the walls of my listening room (and occasionally spill onto the furniture and floor, much to the chagrin of my long-suffering wife). I have always taken the approach as a reviewer that what I am trying to do is simply to point out to readers that I have come across a recording that I have found of interest, a recording that I think they might appreciate my having pointed out to them. I suppose that sounds a bit simple-minded, but I know I appreciate reading reviews by others that do the same for me — point out recordings that they think I might enjoy.

For readers who might be wondering about what kind of system I am using to do my listening, I should probably point out that I do a LOT of music listening and employ a variety of means to do so in a variety of environments, as I would imagine many music lovers also do. Starting at the more grandiose end of the scale, the system in which I do my most serious listening comprises Marantz CD 6007 and Onkyo CD 7030 CD players, NAD C 658 streaming preamp/DAC, Legacy Audio PowerBloc2 amplifier, and a pair of Legacy Audio Focus SE loudspeakers. I occasionally do some listening through pair of Sennheiser 560S headphones. I miss the excellent ELS Studio sound system in our 2016 Acura RDX (now my wife's daily driver) on which I had ripped more than a hundred favorite CDs to the hard drive, so now when driving my 2022 Accord EX-L Hybrid I stream music from my phone through its adequate but not outstanding factory system. For more casual listening at home when I am not in my listening room, I often stream music through the phone into a Vizio soundbar system that has tolerably nice sound for such a diminutive physical presence. And finally, at the least grandiose end of the scale, I have an Ultimate Ears Wonderboom II Bluetooth speaker for those occasions where I am somewhere by myself without a sound system but in desperate need of a musical fix. I just can’t imagine life without music and I am humbly grateful for the technology that enables us to enjoy it in so many wonderful ways.

William (Bill) Heck, Webmaster and Contributor

Among my early childhood memories are those of listening to my mother playing records (some even 78 rpm ones!) of both classical music and jazz tunes. I suppose that her love of music was transmitted genetically, and my interest was sustained by years of playing in rock bands – until I realized that this was no way to make a living. The interest in classical music was rekindled in grad school when the university FM station serving as background music for studying happened to play the Brahms First Symphony. As the work came to an end, it struck me forcibly that this was the most beautiful thing I had ever heard, and from that point on, I never looked back. This revelation was to the detriment of my studies, as I subsequently spent way too much time simply listening, but music has remained a significant part of my life. These days, although I still can tell a trumpet from a bassoon and a quarter note from a treble clef, I have to admit that I remain a nonexpert. But I do love music in general and classical music in particular, and I enjoy sharing both information and opinions about it.

The audiophile bug bit about the same time that I returned to classical music. I’ve gone through plenty of equipment, brands from Audio Research to Yamaha, and the best of it has opened new audio insights. Along the way, I reviewed components, and occasionally recordings, for The $ensible Sound magazine. Most recently I’ve moved to my “ultimate system” consisting of a BlueSound Node streamer, an ancient Toshiba multi-format disk player serving as a CD transport, Legacy Wavelet II DAC/preamp/crossover, dual Legacy PowerBloc2 amps, and Legacy Signature SE speakers (biamped), all connected with decently made, no-frills cables. With the arrival of CD and higher resolution streaming, that is now the source for most of my listening.

Ryan Ross, Contributor

I started listening to and studying classical music in earnest nearly three decades ago. This interest grew naturally out of my training as a pianist. I am now a musicologist by profession, specializing in British and other symphonic music of the 19th and 20th centuries. My scholarly work has been published in major music journals, as well as in other outlets. Current research focuses include twentieth-century symphonic historiography, and the music of Jean Sibelius, Ralph Vaughan Williams, and Malcolm Arnold.

I am honored to contribute writings to Classical Candor. In an age where the classical recording industry is being subjected to such profound pressures and changes, it is more important than ever for those of us steeped in this cultural tradition to continue to foster its love and exposure. I hope that my readers can find value, no matter how modest, in what I offer here.


Bryan Geyer, Technical Analyst

I initially embraced classical music in 1954 when I mistuned my car radio and heard the Heifetz recording of Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto. That inspired me to board the new "hi-fi" DIY bandwagon. In 1957 I joined one of the pioneer semiconductor makers and spent the next 32 years marketing transistors and microcircuits to military contractors. Home audio DIY projects remained a personal passion until 1989 when we created our own new photography equipment company. I later (2012) revived my interest in two channel audio when we "downsized" our life and determined that mini-monitors + paired subwoofers were a great way to mate fine music with the space constraints of condo living.

Visitors that view my technical papers on this site may wonder why they appear here, rather than on a site that features audio equipment reviews. My reason is that I tried the latter, and prefer to publish for people who actually want to listen to music; not to equipment. My focus is in describing what's technically beneficial to assure that the sound of the system will accurately replicate the source input signal (i. e. exhibit high accuracy) without inordinate cost and complexity. Conversely, most of the audiophiles of today strive to achieve sound that's euphonic, i.e. be personally satisfying. In essence, audiophiles seek sound that's consistent with their desire; the music is simply a test signal.

Mission Statement

It is the goal of Classical Candor to promote the enjoyment of classical music. Other forms of music come and go--minuets, waltzes, ragtime, blues, jazz, bebop, country-western, rock-'n'-roll, heavy metal, rap, and the rest--but classical music has been around for hundreds of years and will continue to be around for hundreds more. It's no accident that every major city in the world has one or more symphony orchestras.

When I was young, I heard it said that only intellectuals could appreciate classical music, that it required dedicated concentration to appreciate. Nonsense. I'm no intellectual, and I've always loved classical music. Anyone who's ever seen and enjoyed Disney's Fantasia or a Looney Tunes cartoon playing Rossini's William Tell Overture or Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 can attest to the power and joy of classical music, and that's just about everybody.

So, if Classical Candor can expand one's awareness of classical music and bring more joy to one's life, more power to it. It's done its job. --John J. Puccio

Contact Information

Readers with polite, courteous, helpful letters may send them to classicalcandor@gmail.com

Readers with impolite, discourteous, bitchy, whining, complaining, nasty, mean-spirited, unhelpful letters may send them to classicalcandor@recycle.bin.

"Their Master's Voice" by Michael Sowa

"Their Master's Voice" by Michael Sowa