A belated thank you for your support, Antonio.

Wednesday, February 14, 2018

Modest Mussorgsky - Pictures at an Exhibition (Byron Janis; Antal Doráti)


Information

Composer: Modest Mussorgsky; Frédéric Chopin
  • (01-15) Moussorgsky - Pictures at an Exhibition
  • (16) Chopin - 12 Etudes, Op. 25: No. 3 in F major
  • (17) Chopin - Waltz No. 3 in A minor, Op. 34 No. 2
  • (18-32) Mussorgsky - Pictures at an Exhibition (orch. Maurice Ravel)

Byron Janis, piano (1-17)
Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra
Antal Doráti, conductor (18-32)

Date: 1959 (18-32), 1961 (1-15), 1962 (16, 17)
Label: Mercury
http://www.deccaclassics.com/us/cat/4343462


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Review

Here are twin couplings of Mussorgsky’s original piano version and Ravel’s fascinating and resourceful orchestration. Yet it is a curious fact that while Mussorgsky’s work is unpianistic – at least in conventional terms – positively crying out for added spice and colour, it remains impregnable. Of course, a great deal depends on the pianist and both Brendel and Janis, in their very different ways, are gloriously equal to their task. For Brendel it is Mussorgsky revisited (the Pictures were among his first recordings for Vox, 11/56 – nla) but his affection remains undimmed. Dating from 1986 the present performance is a marvel of musical perception and vitality, never mistaking violence for power (a frequent and ear-splitting failing in this work) and with vivid characterization never sacrificed for smooth pianistic efficacy. Textures, balanced essentially from the top, are kept light and airy and every instruction is so precisely weighed and observed that the music takes on an entirely novel perspective. The ballet of the “Unhatched chickens” could hardly be more scherzino and Brendel’s pedalling in “Catacombe” creates a truly eerie and sepulchral effect. Exceptionally taut rhythm rather than empty virtuosity gives added menace to Baba-jaga’s flight and, throughout, you will search in vain for even a hint of bombast.

Byron Janis’s performance dates from 1961 and his admirers will snap up this first release like gold-dust. For Janis “there has been no greater work for the piano” though changes “enhance certain sonorities”: a touch of hyperbole and contradiction. But his actual performance is of a stupendous brio and his Horowitz-honed virtuosity in the final pages is overwhelming in its pace and dynamism. Omitting one “Promenade” he finds time for two encores which, although oddly misplaced, are worth every scintillating note. Chopin’s Etude, Op. 25 No. 3 flashes and winks like summer lightning and in the A minor Waltz the playing is as patrician in style as it is crystalline in technique.

Of the orchestral performances, Previn’s, taken live from a 1987 concert, is far better recorded than Dorati’s studio account. Yet it is arguably Dorati’s which has the greater character and vitality, the more open-hearted enthusiasm. The “Market Place at Limoges” is hyperactive and there is an all-stops-out response to “Baba-jaga” and the “Great Gate at Kiev”. None the less, both versions sound dated when compared with the finest modern recordings and choice between Brendel and Janis is no easy matter. Personally I wouldn’t want to be without either. The Janis performance is also a sad reminder of the loss we suffered when this great American pianist was stricken by ill-health early in his career.

-- Bryce Morrison, Gramophone


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Modest Mussorgsky (21 March [O.S. 9 March] 1839 – 28 March [O.S. 16 March] 1881) was a Russian composer, one of the group known as The Five. He was an innovator of Russian music in the romantic period, striving to achieve a uniquely Russian musical identity, often in deliberate defiance of the established conventions of Western music. Many of his works were inspired by Russian history, Russian folklore, and other nationalist themes. For many years Mussorgsky's works were mainly known in versions revised or completed by other composers, but some of the original scores are now also available.

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Byron Janis (born March 24, 1928) is an American classical pianist, one of only three students ever acknowledged by Vladimir Horowitz. His pianism has been described as combining a Horowitzian technique with a sublime musicality akin to Cortot's. Janis made several recordings for RCA Victor and Mercury Records, and occupies two volumes of the Philips series Great Pianists of the 20th Century. His discography covers repertoire from Beethoven to David W. Guion and includes major piano concertos from Mozart to Prokofiev. Janis had been suffering from severe arthritis throughout much of his decades-long career.

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Antal Doráti (9 April 1906 – 13 November 1988) was a Hungarian-born conductor and composer who became a naturalized American citizen in 1943. He studied at the Franz Liszt Academy with Zoltán Kodály and Leo Weiner for composition, and Béla Bartók for piano. He made his conducting debut in 1924, and over the course of his career, made over 600 recordings, mostly for Mercury Records. Doráti was especially well known for his recordings of Tchaikovsky's music. Other prominent composers in Doráti's recording career are Béla Bartók and Igor Stravinsky. He lived to make digital recordings, for English Decca Records.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antal_Dor%C3%A1ti

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  3. Thank you for sharing this famous album! I have heard the reputation if it for a long time and finally have a chance to listen to it!

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