Composer: Modest Mussorgsky, Pyotr Il’yich Tchaikovsky
Orchestra: Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra
Conductor: Kirill Karabits
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Onyx
Catalogue: ONYX4074
Release: 2011
Size: 311 MB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: cover
Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 2 in C minor, Op. 17 ‘Little Russian’
01. I. Andante sostenuto – Allegro
02. II. Andantino marziale, quasi moderato
03. III. Scherzo. Allegro molto vivace
04. Finale. Moderato assai – Allegro vivo
05. Mussorgsky: A Night on the Bare Mountain
Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition
06. Promenade
07. No. 1, Gnomus
08. Promenade
09. No. 2, Ill vecchio castello
10. Promenade
11. No. 3, Tuileries
12. No. 4, Bydlo
13. Promenade: Tranquillo
14. No. 5, Ballet of the Unhatched Chicks
15. No. 6, Samuel Goldenberg and Schmuÿle
16. No. 7, The Market at Limoges
17. No. 8, Catacombae (Sepulcrum romanum)
18. Cum mortuis in lingua morta
19. No. 9, The Hut on Fowl’s Legs (Baba-Yagá)
20. No. 10, The Great Gate of Kiev
Following the success of their first release on ONYX, the BSO and Karabits turn to the Ukraine for the second release in the orchestra’s partnership with ONYX.
Tchaikovsky’s most overtly nationalistic symphony, his 2nd known as the ‘Little Russian’ uses folk songs from the Ukraine, and is the nearest the composer came to the musical and cultural ideals proposed by ‘The Mighty Handful’. This group of composers – Borodin, Balakirev, Rimsky-Korsakov, Cui and Mussorgsky rejected the Western influences on Russian culture, and looked to the music, folklore and history of Mother Russia for inspiration. Mussorgsky, probably the most naturally gifted of this group composed A Night on the Bare Mountain in 1867, and the original version heard here was not published until 1968. It is a striking work, quite shocking in it’s modernity, and a world away from Rimsky’s better known re-composition of the piece. The suite Pictures at an Exhibition was written for piano in 1874 and inspired by paintings by his friend Victor Harmann displays Mussorgsky’s great gift of graphic evocation. Ravel’s masterly orchestration was made in 1922.
Maurice Ravel’s brilliant orchestral version of Modest Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition needs no introduction, but the other works on this 2011 Onyx release may be less familiar to some listeners. The Symphony No. 2 in C minor, “Little Russian,” of Pyotr Il’yich Tchaikovsky is possibly the least performed of his symphonies, owing less to any real or perceived deficiency in the music than to the extreme popularity of the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth. This is a modest though competent work based on Ukrainian folk themes, and it has the composer’s recognizable orchestral sound and nationalist style, without any of the biographical associations that have made people love Tchaikovsky for the wrong reasons. The original, raw version of Mussorgsky’s Night on the Bare Mountain is far less frequently played or recorded than the tidy arrangement by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, though it deserves greater exposure because of its many unknown passages, startling effects, and impressive eccentricity. Kirill Karabits and the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra play all three selections with commitment and energy, but it’s safe to say that the Mussorgsky pieces were played with the greatest enthusiasm. The unpredictability of Night on the Bare Mountain makes it seem like tremendous fun to play, while Pictures at an Exhibition is stirring and vibrantly colorful, so the orchestra rises to the occasion because the score is magnificent.