COMPOSERS: Mussorgsky/Prokofiev
LABELS: Teldec M-line
WORKS: Pictures at an Exhibition (orch. Gortchakov); Symphony No. 1 (Classical)
PERFORMER: LPO/Kurt Masur
CATALOGUE NO: 4509-97440-2 DDD (1991)
Gortchakov’s version of Pictures is far more faithful to Mussorgsky’s original than Ravel’s. Contrasts tend to be starker and new light is shed upon much of the work, but I cannot help feeling Gortchakov has made an ‘arrangement’ of Pictures rather than an orchestration. Nowhere is this more apparent than towards the end of ‘The Great Gate of Kiev’, where the brass leap up and down in a far too literal transcription of the original. Masur conducts an often electrifying performance, while a spritely rendition of Prokofiev’s Classical Symphony completes a rather short disc. Christopher Dingle
Mussorgsky/Prokofiev
Gortchakov’s version of Pictures is far more faithful to Mussorgsky’s original than Ravel’s. Contrasts tend to be starker and new light is shed upon much of the work, but I cannot help feeling Gortchakov has made an ‘arrangement’ of Pictures rather than an orchestration. Nowhere is this more apparent than towards the end of ‘The Great Gate of Kiev’, where the brass leap up and down in a far too literal transcription of the original. Masur conducts an often electrifying performance, while a spritely rendition of Prokofiev’s Classical Symphony completes a rather short disc. Christopher Dingle
Our rating
4
Published: January 20, 2012 at 3:15 pm