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Mussorgsky: Pictures At An Exhibition, Etc / Serebrier
Naxos

Mussorgsky: Pictures At An Exhibition, Etc / Serebrier

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Details

Composer
MUSSORGSY ARR. STOKOWSKI
Artist
Bournemouth Sym Orch Serebrier
Format
CD
Label
Naxos
Released
Jun 21, 2005
Catalog #
8557645
UPC
747313264520

About


Leopold Stokowski's transcriptions have been getting a lot of attention on disc lately. Most particularly, DG reluctantly released an excellent disc of Mussorgsky pieces featuring Oliver Knussen and the Cleveland Orchestra, magnificently played and very different in conception from Stokowski's own. That disc vindicated his work by showing convincingly that these arrangements can have a successful existence independently of the great old wizard himself. José Serebrier's interpretations, while not quite so radical in their emphasis on laser-like clarity of texture, achieve much the same sort of validation while preserving more of the physical excitement and cinematic flamboyance of the original recordings.


This isn't just a question of the exceptionally splashy and colorful use of heavy percussion at the end of A Night on Bare Mountain or Pictures at an Exhibition, impressive (and necessary) though that is. Serebrier, who worked as Stoki's assistant conductor at the American Symphony Orchestra for about five years, brings a keen ear for those luscious string sonorities that also give these editions much of their magic at lower dynamic levels. I'm thinking, for example, of the shimmering closing pages of the Boris Godunov Symphonic Synthesis, among other places. Serebrier also captures the tragic intensity of the Khovanshchina Entr'acte as well as Stokowski ever did: he's slower, darker, and heavier than Knussen, more raw and "Russian" sounding, as he also is in the terrifying Catacombs section of Pictures at an Exhibition.


There's further icing on the cake that you won't find on the Knussen disc: the two lovely Tchaikovsky transcriptions (the Humoresque will be familiar to knowledgeable listeners from its use in Stravinsky's The Fairy's Kiss), and Stokowski's own Traditional Slavic Christmas Music, a setting where once again Serebrier shows himself able to conjure a truly authentic "Stokowski sound". Mind you, these aren't mere imitations. Serebrier's flexible approach to tempo and willingness to inject a jolt of extra electricity make something quite special out of the climaxes in A Night on Bare Mountain, and it's very clear that the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra is having as much fun playing this music as you will have listening to it. The engineering stands among the best from this source as well. Spectacular, sensational, skirting the boundaries of "good taste"--this is the real deal. [6/17/2005]
--David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com

Tracklist 17 tracks

  1. 1 St. John's Night on Bald Mountain, "A Night on the Bare Mountain" (arr. L. Stokowski) 09:17
    Track
    1
    Title
    St. John's Night on Bald Mountain, "A Night on the Bare Mountain" (arr. L. Stokowski)
    Duration
    09:17
    Composer
    Modest Mussorgsky
    Ensemble
    Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra
    Conductor
    José Serebrier
  2. 2 Khovanshchina, Act IV: Entr'acte (arr. L. Stokowski) 05:25
    Track
    2
    Title
    Khovanshchina, Act IV: Entr'acte (arr. L. Stokowski)
    Duration
    05:25
    Composer
    Modest Mussorgsky
    Ensemble
    Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra
    Conductor
    José Serebrier
  3. 3 Boris Godunov: A Symphonic Synthesis (arr. L. Stokowski) 24:21
    Track
    3
    Title
    Boris Godunov: A Symphonic Synthesis (arr. L. Stokowski)
    Duration
    24:21
    Composer
    Modest Mussorgsky
    Ensemble
    Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra
    Conductor
    José Serebrier
  4. 4 Promenade 02:04
    Track
    4
    Title
    Promenade
    Duration
    02:04
    Composer
    Modest Mussorgsky
    Conductor
    José Serebrier
  5. 5 I. Gnomus 02:21
    Track
    5
    Title
    I. Gnomus
    Duration
    02:21
    Composer
    Modest Mussorgsky
    Conductor
    José Serebrier
  6. 6 Promenade 01:10
    Track
    6
    Title
    Promenade
    Duration
    01:10
    Composer
    Modest Mussorgsky
    Conductor
    José Serebrier
  7. 7 II. Il vecchio castello 03:39
    Track
    7
    Title
    II. Il vecchio castello
    Duration
    03:39
    Composer
    Modest Mussorgsky
    Conductor
    José Serebrier
  8. 8 IV. Bydlo 02:40
    Track
    8
    Title
    IV. Bydlo
    Duration
    02:40
    Composer
    Modest Mussorgsky
    Conductor
    José Serebrier
  9. 9 Promenade 01:03
    Track
    9
    Title
    Promenade
    Duration
    01:03
    Composer
    Modest Mussorgsky
    Conductor
    José Serebrier
  10. 10 V. Ballet of the Chickens in their Shells 01:16
    Track
    10
    Title
    V. Ballet of the Chickens in their Shells
    Duration
    01:16
    Composer
    Modest Mussorgsky
    Ensemble
    Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra
    Conductor
    José Serebrier
  11. 11 VI. Samuel Goldenberg and Schmuyle 02:40
    Track
    11
    Title
    VI. Samuel Goldenberg and Schmuyle
    Duration
    02:40
    Composer
    Modest Mussorgsky
    Conductor
    José Serebrier
  12. 12 VII. Catacombae. Cum mortuis in Lingua mortua 03:44
    Track
    12
    Title
    VII. Catacombae. Cum mortuis in Lingua mortua
    Duration
    03:44
    Composer
    Modest Mussorgsky
    Conductor
    José Serebrier
  13. 13 IX. The Hut on Fowls' Legs, "Baba Yaga" 02:58
    Track
    13
    Title
    IX. The Hut on Fowls' Legs, "Baba Yaga"
    Duration
    02:58
    Composer
    Modest Mussorgsky
    Conductor
    José Serebrier
  14. 14 X. The Great Gate of Kiev 05:15
    Track
    14
    Title
    X. The Great Gate of Kiev
    Duration
    05:15
    Composer
    Modest Mussorgsky
    Conductor
    José Serebrier
  15. 15 Humoresque, Op. 10, No. 2 (trans. L. Stokowski) 02:11
    Track
    15
    Title
    Humoresque, Op. 10, No. 2 (trans. L. Stokowski)
    Duration
    02:11
    Composer
    Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
    Conductor
    José Serebrier
  16. 16 Solitude [Again, as before, alone], Op. 73, No. 6 (trans. L. Stokowski) 03:26
    Track
    16
    Title
    Solitude [Again, as before, alone], Op. 73, No. 6 (trans. L. Stokowski)
    Duration
    03:26
    Composer
    Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
    Ensemble
    Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra
    Conductor
    José Serebrier
  17. 17 Traditional Slavic Christmas Music 03:18
    Track
    17
    Title
    Traditional Slavic Christmas Music
    Duration
    03:18
    Composer
    Leopold Stokowski
    Ensemble
    Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra
    Conductor
    José Serebrier