COMPOSERS: Mussorgsky
LABELS: RCA Gold Seal
WORKS: A Night on the Bald Mountain; Prelude and Galitsin’s Journey from Khovanshchina; Scherzo in B flat; Joshua; Triumphal March
PERFORMER: LSO & Chorus/Claudio Abbado
CATALOGUE NO: 09026 61354 2 ADD (1981)
This is an important collection of real rarities by Mussorgsky. Many of them are manhandled by Rimsky-Korsakov in game re-orchestrations, but there is more than enough of the original to engage the attention. The early Scherzo in B flat must rank as one of Mussorgsky’s least individual pieces, with its Schubertian good humour. In slow passages Abbado tends to inflate matters, but on balance these are fine performances of rare and precious repertory. Jan Smaczny
Mussorgsky: A Night on the Bald Mountain; Prelude and Galitsin's Journey from Khovanshchina; Scherzo in B flat; Joshua; Triumphal March
This is an important collection of real rarities by Mussorgsky. Many of them are manhandled by Rimsky-Korsakov in game re-orchestrations, but there is more than enough of the original to engage the attention. The early Scherzo in B flat must rank as one of Mussorgsky’s least individual pieces, with its Schubertian good humour. In slow passages Abbado tends to inflate matters, but on balance these are fine performances of rare and precious repertory. Jan Smaczny
Our rating
4
Published: January 20, 2012 at 2:34 pm