Tag Archives: Mussorgsky

From Pärnu with Love: Tchaikovsky 2 fizzes under Paavo Järvi

Paavo Järvi/Estonian Festival Orchestra Pärnu Music Festival, 21st July 2019 “Erkki-Sven Tüür’s Sow the Wind, Mussorgsky’s Songs of Dances of Death and Tchaikovsky 2… this is not good box office!” admitted Paavo Järvi at the reception following the final concert … Continue reading

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Immaculately tailored Ravel and Mussorgsky from Inon Barnatan at the QEH

Inon Barnatan *** Queen Elizabeth Hall, 31st October 2018 When Ravel appears alongside Mussorgsky on concert programmes, it’s usually the dapper Frenchman’s lavish orchestration of the Russian’s Pictures at an Exhibition. For his immaculately tailored International Piano Series debut, Inon Barnatan maintained this … Continue reading

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Prom 29: Twilight of the Old Believers as Semyon Bychkov leads a majestic Khovanshchina

Mussorgsky: Khovanshchina **** Prom 29, Royal Albert Hall, 6th August 2017 At the end of Götterdämmerung, Brünnhilde rides her horse onto a pyre. Although his opera’s not quite as long, Mussorgsky trumps Wagner by sending a whole chorus to their immolation as Act … Continue reading

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A not so brief encounter with the Moscow Philharmonic

Yuri Simonov/Moscow Philharmonic **** The Anvil, Basingstoke, 23rd May 2017 What a difference a week makes. After last Thursday’s Pictures at an Exhibition where the Orchestre de Paris coated a pristine layer of French polish over Mussorgsky’s score, the Moscow … Continue reading

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From the Auvergne to St Petersburg: a travelogue with the Orchestre de Paris

Ravel, Canteloube, Mussorgsky: Orchestre de Paris/Hengelbrock *** Philharmonie de Paris, 18th May 2017 How fluent is your Occitan? Joseph Canteloube’s Chants d’Auvergne, his arrangement of folksongs from central France, are in the local language, not dissimilar to Catalan. They mostly … Continue reading

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