Head-Fi.org › Forums › Misc.-Category Forums › Music › Pictures at an Exhibition
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

Pictures at an Exhibition

post #1 of 22
7/11/03 at 9:39pm
Thread Starter 
What is the highest quality recording out there of Moussorgky's classics for compact disk?
Reply
post #2 of 22
7/11/03 at 10:38pm
The only copy I own is EMI's re-issue with Muti and Philadelphia Orchestra, which is fairly good.

I have not heard it yet, (but based on my other few XRCDs from that era), the JVC re-mastering with Reiner and Chicago SO is probably exceptional.
Reply
post #3 of 22
7/12/03 at 12:58am
Thread Starter 
I listened to some 20 kbps samples of the EMI disk and wow.......at least at 20 kbps per second it sounds incredible. MUCH better than the Telarc disk sample at 20 kbps on Amazon.com. The telarc version is supposed to be famous but from hearing the 20 kbps samples the EMI takes the cake.


I have a hybrid SACD/CD of the Rite of Spring from Telarc and the 20 kbps sample of the EMI sounds more enthusiastic.


(Note, I did not use my regular headphones for that comparison.)
Reply
post #4 of 22
7/12/03 at 9:31am

Re: Pictures at an Exhibition

Quote:
Originally posted by Czilla9000
What is the highest quality recording out there of Moussorgky's classics for compact disk?
They are pretty much all high quality sound, you need to get the best performance.........that is the real question

The key to this work is the closing "gates of Kiev" sequence, it must have a slow noble sustained build up to an overwhelming climax, many conductors cannot pull this off well. Here are the versions I own now:

Reiner/RCA Living Stereo
Sinopoli/DG
Gergiev/Phillips
Dutoit/London
Maazel/Telarc
Kaspszyk/Collins

The Maazel is very popular with reviewers but the Telarc sound is very dated now and not a top contender. Reiner is a great work and RCA sound is still amazing, but I have found even better versions (Solti version is surprising weak unfortunately).

The Sinopoli and Gergiev are two very good recent recordings, but I must give the palm to (surprise) Dutoit/London who carries off the finale better than any other I have heard. The build up and climax are just more powerful and glorious than the rest, and all other movements carried off with great panache.

Also worth seeking out as a filler piece is the "original" version of
"night on bare mountain" which is wilder more passionate than standard version.........must be heard and owned.
Reply
post #5 of 22
7/12/03 at 10:15am
Quote:
They are pretty much all high sound quality sound, you need to get the best performance.........that is the real question
I concur.
Reply
post #6 of 22
7/20/03 at 6:46am
Original piano version:

1) Richter (1958 Sofia recital) on Philips
2) Pletnev

Ravel orchestration:

1) Karajan (1966) on DG
2) Reiner on RCA

***

DarkAngel wrote, "Also worth seeking out as a filler piece is the original version of "Night on Bare Mountain" ... [It] must be heard and owned."

Try the Abbado (St. John's Night on the Bare Mountain) on RCA. The choral work and opera excerpts are great, too.
Reply
post #7 of 22
7/27/03 at 4:04am
Thread Starter 
I was at Best Buy and bought a version on sale for 11.99. Is it Sony Classical with Leonard Bernstein as conductor.



It contains the Ravel version of PAAE and St. Johns Night on the Bare Mountain with orcestration by Rimsky-K.


Is the Rimsky-K version the good version of Night on a BM?
Reply
post #8 of 22
7/27/03 at 5:18am
Quote:
Originally posted by Odi_et_Amo
Original piano version:

1) Richter (1958 Sofia recital) on Philips
2) Pletnev
I agree with your first choice above. Once that is in your head, no other recorded performance of my ken comes close. I did, however, hear a real dazzler live, at a 1973 recital by Alexis Weissenberg. Even then, the Richter 'Great Gate' sequence was still in my head. For others not familiar with that Richter performance, be forewarned, the audience set a record for the rate of coughs per unit of time. }^:
But don't let that deter you from getting that performance of a lifetime.

I'll have to sample that Pletnev. If it matches the level of his 2000 Carnegie Hall recital, it should be a dandy.
Reply
post #9 of 22
7/27/03 at 5:24am
Quote:
Originally posted by Czilla9000
It contains the Ravel version of PAAE and St. Johns Night on the Bare Mountain with orcestration by Rimsky-K.

Is the Rimsky-K version the good version of Night on a BM?
RK toned down Mussorsky's original composition - this is referred to as the standard version because it's the one heard more commonly. The original, raw version of Mussorsky's composition is what DarkAngel was referring to above.
Reply
post #10 of 22
7/27/03 at 6:54am
Quote:
Originally posted by batlang
...For others not familiar with that Richter performance, be forewarned, the audience set a record for the rate of coughs per unit of time...
Someone once quipped that it must have been recorded in a tuberculosis ward.

Reply
post #11 of 22
7/27/03 at 10:23am


"...triumphs of artistry, musical and technical." -- Heuwell Tircuit, InTune

"The performance has an oddly fresh, exuberant quality, as if Oue had just discovered the piece. One doesn't anticipate this level of clarity with no apparent spotlighting of instruments. Oh, how I enjoyed listening to this collection!" -- James Miller, Fanfare
Reply
post #12 of 22
7/27/03 at 6:27pm
Thanks, KR... I just ordered the Eiji Oue ยท Minnesota Orchestra version!

"...The sound quality is immaculate, full of little details, sound stage is perfectly balanced. -- Chris Honingh (from Krommenie, NH Netherlands)

Reply
post #13 of 22
7/27/03 at 8:50pm
A few years back I heard a piano only version (on a local classical station) that just blew me away. I emailed them but didn't get anywhere. I've purchased at least three different versions (Bloch, Horowitz, etc.), but have never found the one I heard that night. It was the most dynamic impactful version I have ever heard. If anyone knows what I'm talking about, drop me a clue
Reply
post #14 of 22
7/28/03 at 12:22am
Quote:
Originally posted by HighwayStar
A few years back I heard a piano only version (on a local classical station) that just blew me away. ... I've purchased at least three different versions (Bloch, Horowitz, etc.), but have never found the one I heard that night. It was the most dynamic impactful version I have ever heard. If anyone knows what I'm talking about, drop me a clue
Richter's performance of it at his 1958 Sofia recital. It's on Philips:

Reply
post #15 of 22
7/28/03 at 4:48am
Thread Starter 
What album is the "original" Night on a Bare Mountain on? If it has a good version of Picture at an Exhibition that is a plus.




I REALLY am lusting to hear the original. I love the Rimsky-K version but always found it a bit tame.
Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
  Back to Forum: Music
Head-Fi.org › Forums › Misc.-Category Forums › Music › Pictures at an Exhibition