Mussorgsky/Borodin/Rimsky-Korsakov
Published:
COMPOSERS: Mussorgsky/Borodin/Rimsky-Korsakov
LABELS: DG Classikon
WORKS: Pictures at an Exhibition; Polovtsian Dances,
PERFORMER: Chicago SO/Carlo Maria Giulini, Gothenburg SO & Chorus/ Neeme Järvi
CATALOGUE NO: 439 500-2 ADD/DDD 1976-92
Towering above the rest in this disc of Russian perennials is Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition, and thankfully the best piece gets the best performance. Giulini and the Chicago SO are ideally versatile in this multi-shaded work, moving seamlessly between feather-lightness and Tsarist pomp and doom. Järvi is not altogether left standing. Highlight of his contributions is the Polovtsian Dances, in which Rimsky-Korsakov and Glazunov’s glittery orchestration sounds more enchanting than it can do. Christopher Wood