I have had cause before to complain about the miserable presentation
of these Warner Apex reissues and their lack of any information
about the music contained on the discs. In this case one has
to look in the small print inside the booklet to ascertain the
most interesting point about this disc: the performance of Mussorgsky’s
Pictures at an exhibition is given not in the more usually
heard orchestration by Maurice Ravel but in the version by Sergei
Gorchakov made in 1954, which Kurt Masur clearly prefers since
he has also recorded it with the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra.
The booklet tells us absolutely nothing about the differences
between the Gorchakov edition and the more familiar Ravel, nor
does it provide any information about the ‘pictures’
themselves. No matter how cheaply the discs are sold, the purchaser
must expect more than this.
In fact the differences between Gorchakov and Ravel are not
that substantial. Gorchakov includes the Promenade before
Limoges which Ravel cut - the latter was working from
an earlier edition of the score. He also adheres more closely
to Mussorgsky’s original piano score, when the oxcart
in Bydlo does not - as in Ravel - approach from the distance;
instead (as in Ashkenazy’s orchestration) the cart is
physically prominent from the very start. Again, instead of
Ravel’s saxophone portraying the minstrel in The old
castle we have what sounds like a muted trombone. In the
absence of any booklet information, which doesn’t even
mention the minstrel, any more than it does the oxcart, this
can only be a speculative guess. Nor is it clear what brass
instrument takes over the depiction of the poor Jew in Samuel
Goldenberg and Schmuyle from Ravel’s muted trumpet.
Otherwise Gorchakov uses a greater range of percussion than
Ravel, to spectacular effect in Gnomus which sounds more
seriously menacing than Ravel’s grotesque figure. For
more information about Gorchakov’s version readers are
referred to Bob
Briggs’ review on this site of a live performance
by the Royal Philharmonic.
The performances sound very well in the acoustic of the Snape
Maltings although the booklet assumes that audiences outside
the UK will know precisely where this is located. The Prokofiev
Classical Symphony is given plenty of life by Masur.
This is not a piece that lends itself to much variety of interpretation,
but it does demand superlative orchestral playing, which it
certainly gets here. Prokofiev deliberately set out to mimic
the procedures of the eighteenth century while using the orchestral
resources of the twentieth. The result is one of the most delightful
pieces of froth you will ever hear. Masur doesn’t miss
a point.
The disc is decidedly short measure, and unless you particularly
want the Gorchakov version of Pictures you would be better
off looking for a recording of the ‘standard’ Ravel
orchestration - of which there are a great number, many of which
are recommendable. If this reissue had given more information
about the Gorchakov edition it might have been more valuable.
Comparison of the numerous orchestrations of Mussorgsky’s
original is a very enjoyable and instructive pastime. I have
complete versions not only by Ravel, Ashkenazy and this Gorchakov
in my collection, but also ones by Stokowski
and Funtek - and Leonard
Slatkin made a very enjoyable compilation of excerpts versions
by various other hands including Sir
Henry Wood; see also Nashville/Slatkin
version. The casual listener needs more informative guidance
than is given here. Worse still, someone who buys the disc expecting
the Ravel may be disappointed, if only because Ravel’s
often subtle orchestration still remains the most enjoyable
for general listening. Nice to hear an alternative once in a
while, though.
Paul Corfield Godfrey
Masterwork Index: Pictures
at an exhibition ~~ Classical
Symphony
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