IDAGIO | Modest Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition - Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: Grand Piano Sonata & The Seasons (excerpts) 3149028138023

Featuring

Sviatoslav Richter
Modest Mussorgsky
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

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Compositional Technique

In Pictures at an Exhibition, Mussorgsky used a recurring intermezzo called 'Promenade' to link the various pictures, which he described as reflecting his own physiognomy.

Composition History

Mussorgsky's piano cycle Pictures at an Exhibition was inspired by a memorial exhibition for his friend, the painter and architect Viktor Hartmann.

Composition History

Tchaikovsky's Grand Piano Sonata, Op.37, was composed in 1878 around the same time as his famous Violin Concerto in D, and he found its composition difficult.

Composer Biography

Modest Mussorgsky, one of the most original Russian composers, was considered ahead of his time due to his realistic creative powers and struggles to reach new artistic heights.

Interpretation

Sviatoslav Richter believed a pianist should not add anything to the score but should dissolve into the music to reveal the composer's intentions.

Performer Biography

Sviatoslav Richter, the pianist on this recording, disliked the recording process, especially in a studio, but sometimes accepted live performance recordings.

Composition History

Tchaikovsky's The Seasons, a set of 12 short piano pieces, was a commission from Nikolay Matveyevich Bernard, editor of the St. Petersburg music magazine Nouvellist, to supplement the composer's income.