Composer: Modest Mussorgsky, Maurice Ravel, Igor Stravinsky
Performer: Khatia Buniatishvili
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Sony
Release: 2016
Size: 1.36 GB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: cover
Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition
01. Promenade I
02. I. Gnomus
03. Promenade II
04. II. Il vecchio castello
05. Promenade III
06. III. Tuileries (Dispute d’enfants après jeux)
07. IV. Bydlo
08. Promenade IV
09. V. Ballet des poussins dans leurs coques
10. VI. Samuel Goldenberg und Schmuyle (Deux juifs – L’un riche et l’autre pauvre)
11. Promenade V
12. VII. Limoges – Le Marché (La Grande Nouvelle)
13. VIII. Catacombae (Sepulcrum romanum)
14. Cum mortuis in lingua mortua
15. IX. La Cabane sur des pattes de poule (Baba-Yaga)
16. X. La Grande Porte (de l’ancienne capitale Kiev)
17. Ravel: La Valse
Stravinsky: Three Movements from Petrushka
18. I. Russian Dance
19. II. Petrushka’s Room
20. III. The Shrovetide Fair
Khatia Buniatishvili’s new recording Kaleidoscope, a unique combination of masterful and challenging pieces, shows her true virtuosic playing and features the well-loved Pictures at an Exhibition by Modest Mussorgsky, Ravel’s La Valse and Stravinsky’s Petruschka.
Given that these pieces all have an orchestral version, the pianist must bring out this larger palette of colours on a single instrument. Khatia does just that, painting her own picture of the pieces, how they are interwoven and the special characters she wants to emphasize.
There is a strong sense of character about the programme – it is music to be seen as well as heard, and it takes in other art forms as well: dance, puppetry and painting. The movement and colours of these other art forms are encapsulated in Khatia’s playing and the album’s title, Kaleidoscope.