CD review
Published Date:
20 July 2008
By ALEXANDER BRYCE
MODEST MUSSORGSKY
Pictures From An Exhibition *****
BIS SACD-1580, £12.99
In Ravel's orchestrated version, Mussorgsky's Pictures From An Exhibition tends to be seen as a lightweight piece of musical representationalism. But in pianist Freddy Kempf's hands it becomes much darker, as he brings out all the strength of Mussorgsky's original solo piano work.
The great gate at Kiev witnesses the friendship between composer and its painter, Viktor Hartmann (whose recent death inspired this work). There is real pain here, amid the soaring vision of what might have been; the 'Hut On Hen's Legs' is less a folksy rendering of a fairytale witch's house, alluding to something darker. Splendidly played.
Download this: The Bogatyr Gate
The full article contains 117 words and appears in Scotland On Sunday newspaper.
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Last Updated:
19 July 2008 1:24 PM
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Source:
Scotland On Sunday
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Location:
Scotland
