Prom 16 - 26.07.17: Mussorgsky – Pictures at an Exhibition

[Pulcinella]

The Boosey and Hawkes Pocket Score (number 32) is titled inside as
M P Mussorgsky
Tableaux d'une exposition
Pictures from an exhibition
Cuadros de una exposicion
Orchestrated by Maurice Ravel

The outside cover says
Mussorgsky-Ravel
Tableaux d'une exposition

But it includes ferney's beloved original orchestration (piano version).

Copyright is 1929 Edition Russe de Musique
I wonder if the double s in Mussorgsky stems from the French transliteration?

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Interesting - the Eulenburg edition (#8022) which also includes the original piano solo as a "parallel text" at the foot of each page has MUSSORGSKY-RAVEL TABLEAUX D'UNE EXPOSITION / PICTURES AT AN EXHIBITION / BILDER EINER AUSSTELLUNG on the outside and inside covers.

Mind you, at 19 x 26.5cm, it could never be described as a "pocket score"!

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

The Wilhelm Hansen edition of the unencumbered Musorgsky has MOUSSORGSKY PICTURES FROM AN EXIBITION [ sic ] on the cover - "exhibition" is spelt correctly in lower case on the inside cover.

[Pulcinella]

The Wilhelm Hansen edition of the unencumbered Musorgsky has MOUSSORGSKY OICTURES FROM AN EXIBITION [ sic ] on the cover - "exhibition" is spelt correctly in lower case on the inside cover.

OICTURES as well as EXIBITION?
And is the Eulenberg really PUCTURES?
Seems like you're not the only one who has problems with this work: the printers/proofreaders do, too!

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

But is the Eulenberg really PUCTURES?

Oh, fick.

[Serial_Apologist]

Oh, fick.

The last time I had a pucture I'd left my pup at home!

[jayne lee wilson]

The least you can say about the Julian Anderson Piano Concerto is that it's a great Proms display piece with much pianistic and orchestral brilliance. I especially liked the chattering and swirling of the Forest Murmurs... and then the lovely string cantilena of Song before Dawn with that Messiaen-bird piano solo stuttering across it....then winds and horns entered like an awed, human presence, then more wind-birds joined in the rich and lively dawn chorus...
The Mountain finale strode around brassily to Stravinskian/Messiaenic rhythms and sonorities, with some strikingly Noces-like, resoundingly isolated piano chords toward the end, crowned with trilling crescendos and brass outbursts... and surely much more to emerge from repeated hearings.

The Liszt Hamlet got a terrific performance. That's some powerful string section the BBCSSO have, and Liszt got the "dense, sepulchral basses" he asked for.
A mini-symphony or an expanded overture? On Last Looking into Shakespeare's Hamlet, perhaps....
Cradle to the Grave - eloquently shaped, keenly dynamic and sharply defined too, on an orchestra both brilliant and powerful. Performances of both poems easily equalling those stunning Noseda/Chandos recordings. Fascinating series for anyone to explore... 12 Pages from an Orchestral Diary?

A more incisive and open orchestral balance from the BBCSSO (compared to the VW9) via R3 Concert Sound tonight... a little level-manipulation audible occasionally (some boosting of very quiet passages, more obvious hall acoustic etc.)...? I could occasionally hear some kind of electronic buzz from the RAH tonight as well.

[edashtav]

The BBCSSO were on top form tonight under Volkov. Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition were wonderfully characterised and the orchestra made a strong case for Ravel's orchestration. The concert as a whole could have been subtitled "Orchestral Pictures" and it was good to hear both Liszt pieces being played with conviction and colour. Julian Anderson's curious Piano Concerto with its echoes of other composer's travel suites was full of brilliance and wit, and the performance had none of the timidity that can blunt the impact of works receiving their world premiere. I remain worried that at heart Julian is a miniaturist, a latter day Liadov, but, like Ravel, his works are finely engineered without the French composer's originality. Full marks to the sound engineers for creating a marvellous sound stage on R.3, curiously, I found it much better than that created for the RVW / Holst concert last evening.

[Pulcinella]

In the interval Proms Extra talk, I thought that DON made quite a good case for Ravel's treatment of the piano original (but I don't imagine for a microsecond that ferney was remotely persuaded!).

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Ferney had a very entertaining evening with chums down his local hostelry: much better on the Blood Pressure.

[Sir Velo]

Most postgraduates could do as "well" - more to the point, Ravel could have done much better.

Crumbs. There must be one heck of a load of neglected great orchestral transcriptions by students out there! Any chance you could point my way to a few, ferns, I'm always a sucker for a great orchestral showstopper!

[BBMmk2]

For the most part, the BBCSSO were on top form. The only work that spoilt it, slightly for me was in Pictures. The musicians, of course could have been tired at this point, but some slight misgivings. Articulation by the trumpets in the promenade could have been better, by lengthening the notes ascending, could have been a bit broader. The bass drum was out as was the bell to begin with. Otherwise, top notch playing from everyone else.

[Richard Tarleton]

I went to an LPO/Masur concert in Cardiff in 2000 at which the Gorchakov version was performed. I had not heard of it before, haven't heard it since, and to be honest can't remember a thing about it . The programme note contained the following comment: "Kurt Masur believes this to be more faithful to Mussorgsky's original intentions and describes it as like living during the Russian Revolution, as compared to the Ravel version, which is more like living in Paris and merely hearing about the Russian Revolution".

I remember a - was it a Prom? - at which Leonard Slatkin and the BBCSO played an amalgam of different versions with, of course, a great deal of talk from Mr Slatkin.

[edashtav]

For the most part, the BBCSSO were on top form. The only work that spoilt it, slightly for me was in Pictures. The musicians, of course could have been tired.[...]
Articulation by the trumpets in the promenade could have been better, by lengthening the notes ascending, could have been a bit broader.

I can see you point, bbm, but were the trumpets to blame? Volkov pushed the promenades along so they became trots.

[BBMmk2]

I can see you point, bbm, but were the trumpets to blame? Volkov pushed the promenades along so they became trots.

Now you say this Edash, yes he pushed the whole work along. That muted trumpet passage in one of the movements, can't remember which one it's called, he sounded well pushed. Or rushed, as we say in the trade.