Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition (Tableaux d'une exposition, Kartinki s vystavki) - CD

“Karabits encourages the players to dig deep into the music, pounding out the rhythms sturdily, in the Tchaikovsky especially, rather than bustling ahead nervously. At 82 minutes this is a generous, as well as an enjoyable CD.” The Observer, 30th October 2011

“Strong rhythmic definition, clarity of orchestral texture and firmly controlled impetus give the Tchaikovsky a definite boost. Karabits coaxes a ripe, full sound from the Bournemouth players and encourages broad bowings from the strings that add weight to the sonority. Equally he allows for individual instrumental colours to tell..Karabits is an inspired architect.” The Telegraph, 11th November 2011 ****

“[it] has everything we expect from a Tchaikovsky interpreter of the Moscow school – colour, sweep, majesty, but not a whiff of indulgence. The Bournemouth orchestra responds with style and drive – all wind sections in superlative form – and a symphony that is often dismissed as a poor relation of its better known successors comes across as a masterpiece” Financial Times, 26th November 2011 *****

“The Musorgsky pieces are superbly performed...Bare Mountain's hair-raising opening sounding genuinely menacing rather than brash, and every cackle of the witches as impersonated by strings and woodwind brought to vivid life. Pictures, too, is a triumph, with Ravel's orchestration telling in every vignette.” BBC Music Magazine, February 2012 *****

“If there's a single distinguishing feature of this generously filled disc it's Karabits's determination to convey the grass-roots spirit of the themes which breathe life into these pieces...Characteristically, he is more mindful of the pianistic cragginess of Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition than of Ravel's finesse...Karabits is big-boned and earthy, and positively encourages coarser-grained sonorities from his Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra.” Gramophone Magazine, March 2012

“In Pictures at an Exhibition I cannot imagine a performance truer to the finesse of Ravel's scoring. In the opening "Promenade" alone there are myriad subtleties of phasing and dynamics. What we have here is a sequence of exquisitely crafted miniatures; the French-ness of Ravek's fastidious work is everywhere.” Gramophone Magazine, July 2008

“Stokowski's orchestrations, as flamboyant and full of flair as his interpretations as a conductor, have increasingly been accepted and welcomed on disc, a good sign that rigidly purist attitudes have nowadays softened. This Naxos collection of Stokowski's arrangements offers outstanding performances by the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, brilliantly recorded.
Few would claim that Stokowski's arrangement of Pictures at an Exhibition matches, let alone outshines, that of Ravel. But with its weighty brass it is certainly more Russian. In fact – one of the most serious shortcomings – Stokowski omits two of the movements, 'Tuileries' and the 'Market Place at Limoges' on the grounds that they are too French. Yet Serebrier's new performance makes it very convincing with speeds well chosen and the brass wonderfully incisive.
The atmospheric qualities of the Boris Godunov Symphonic Synthesis come over superbly too, starting with a hauntingly rarefied bassoon solo, even if the recording catches the clicking of the keys. The mystery of the chimes in the Coronation scene as well as the Death scene are more evocatively handled. If A Night on the Bare Mountain finds the Naxos recording rather less immediate than in the other items, the weight of the arrangement comes over well, and the Khovanshchina Entr'acte has impressive weight and clarity.
The extra items also weigh in Serebrier's favour: an arrangement of a Tchaikovsky song that explores an astonishingly wide emotional range within a tiny span and the jolly Humoresque, a piano piece that Stravinsky memorably used in his ballet The Fairy's Kiss. Finally, a baldly effective piece, attributed to Stokowski himself, based not just on a Christmas hymn but on Ippolitov-Ivanov's In a Manger.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

“Serebrier's own imposing, heavyweight style yields different results to the volatile Knussen… but it's always absorbing. Something of the Stokowski sound is filtered through the refined texturing of the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, and further enhanced by the spacious concert-hall acoustic.” BBC Music Magazine, October 2005

“…outstanding performances by the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, brilliantly recorded in sound if anything even more spectacular and more cleanly focused than that on the discs from Chandos and DG.” Gramophone Magazine, Awards Issue 2005