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Mussorgsky, M.P.: Pictures at an Exhibition / Ravel, M.: Gaspard De La Nuit / Balakirev, M.A.: Islamey

10/1/2008, 20 Tracks, 1:05:16

Featuring

  • Freddy Kempf
  • Modest Mussorgsky
  • Maurice Ravel
  • Mily Balakirev

Did you know?

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Compositional Technique

The Promenade theme in Mussorgsky's Pictures from an Exhibition, borrowed from a Russian folk-song, symbolizes the composer's origins and links the various pictures.

Source: Booklet

Composition History

Ravel's Gaspard de la Nuit was inspired by three prose poems by Aloysius Bertrand, a Hoffmannesque writer from the 1830s.

Source: Booklet

Composition History

Ravel intended Scarbo, a movement from Gaspard de la Nuit, to be even more difficult than Balakirev's Islamey and a caricature of pianistic Romanticism.

Source: Booklet

Performer Biography

Freddy Kempf gained international prominence after winning third prize at the 1998 Tchaikovsky International Piano Competition in Moscow, which led to audience protests and Russian press acclaim.

Source: Booklet

Cultural Impact

Mussorgsky's Pictures from an Exhibition has been arranged for various ensembles, including solo guitar, organ, Chinese instruments, brass band, synthesizer, and even a rock group (Emerson, Lake & Palmer).

Source: Booklet

Composer's Artistic Vision

Mussorgsky's Pictures from an Exhibition intuitively portrays the world of his friend, the painter and architect Viktor Hartmann, rather than directly translating pictures into music.

Source: Booklet

Composition History

Mussorgsky composed Pictures from an Exhibition in a three-week creative frenzy following the death of his friend, Viktor Hartmann.

Source: Booklet

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©℗ 2008 BIS