Mussorgsky: Khovanshchina: Prelude

In the May of 1973 Giulini's Berlin programme was built around Slav composers. It opened with the Prelude to Mussorgsky's Khovanshchina, followed by the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto with the Korean violinist Kyung-Wha Chung, born in 1948, who was making her début with the Berlin Philharmonic. The concert ended with the Symphony No.7 by Dvor?ák. As Klaus Geitel put it in Die Welt on 12 May, the colours were not burnished until they resembled picture postcards: "Giulini's honesty and seriousness invests his interpretations with a symphonic gravity that totally rejects flirting with effects, tempting though they are. This imparted a calm serenity and lustrous beauty to the Prelude to Mussorgsky's Khovanshchina." In Dvor?ák's Seventh Symphony Giulini had once again displayed the energy that powerfully synthesised the form and created a firm foundation for the drive and inspiration of his interpretations. This was due to his artistic vehemence which, "rather than construing completeness from small components appears to strike out in the opposite direction. In the end the overall view of the work reveals the significance of the details." Even in the '70s Dvor?ák's Seventh was no standard item in our programmes, being overshadowed by the popular Ninth (From the New World ) and the familiar Eighth. Yet the work substantially extends the image of the Czech composer. As Gottfried Eberle put it in the Tagesspiegel on 12 May, it was not just his preoccupation with folklore or the example of Brahms; there were also obvious traces of Wagner's harmonies and Bruckner's symphonic style, particularly in the Scherzo and Finale. This resulted in a problem of form and structure for which Giulini had found a thrilling solution by letting the natural impetus of the music swing freely yet never allowing the symphonic texture to relax for a moment. Eberle's colleague Wolfgang Schimmel stated in Der Abend that the Berlin Philharmonic appeared to enjoy working with Giulini and that their playing was unrivalled. From the booklet note by Helge Grünewald

Solti came late in life to the music of Shostakovich, and in his introduction to the recording of the Thirteenth Symphony (reprinted in the booklet) explains the music's effect on him. These rare recordings have long been out of the catalogue, and are now issued as a 2CD set at super-budget price. Sergei Aleksashkin is the commanding bass in the Thirteenth and in the Mussorgsky songs, and Sir Anthony Hopkins intersperses Yevtushenko poems in this unique recording.

Paavo Järvi continues his series of Russian recordings with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra with a disc entirely devoted to works by Mussorgsky.

Pictures at an Exhibition, originally composed for piano, is heard here in the orchestration by Ravel. Mussorgsy wrote pictures as a tribute to his friend, artist and architect Viktor Hartmann. The familiar Promenade theme links Mussorgsky’s imaginary tour of Hartmann’s exhibition.

Rimsky-Korsakov, who felt that Night on Bald Mountain had many marvellous effects, tried to resurrect it after his friend died. He smoothed out many of the irregularities and improved the orchestration, most likely working from the final version of the piece.

The Prelude to Mussorgsky’s ill-fated opera Khovanschchina is titled Dawn on the Moskva River. Mussorgsky composed much of the music for the first four acts, but orchestrated only a small amount of it. The task of orchestrating and completing the opera fell to his friend Rimsky-Korsakov. The Prelude sets the scene for Act I in the Red Square in Moscow, and uses a theme of distinctly Russian folk character, which undergoes a series of melodic variations.

Paavo Järvi continues his series of Russian recordings with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra with a disc entirely devoted to works by Mussorgsky.

Pictures at an Exhibition, originally composed for piano, is heard here in the orchestration by Ravel. Mussorgsy wrote pictures as a tribute to his friend, artist and architect Viktor Hartmann. The familiar Promenade theme links Mussorgsky’s imaginary tour of Hartmann’s exhibition.

Rimsky-Korsakov, who felt that Night on Bald Mountain had many marvellous effects, tried to resurrect it after his friend died. He smoothed out many of the irregularities and improved the orchestration, most likely working from the final version of the piece.

The Prelude to Mussorgsky’s ill-fated opera Khovanschchina is titled Dawn on the Moskva River. Mussorgsky composed much of the music for the first four acts, but orchestrated only a small amount of it. The task of orchestrating and completing the opera fell to his friend Rimsky-Korsakov. The Prelude sets the scene for Act I in the Red Square in Moscow, and uses a theme of distinctly Russian folk character, which undergoes a series of melodic variations.