Carlo Maria Giulini & Chicago Symphony Orchestra – Mussorgski: Pictures At an Exhibition / Prokofjew: Symphonie Classique – Vinyl LP

High Quality

An art exhibition in honor of his friend, the painter Victor Hartmann, inspired Mussorgsky to compose his piano cycle in 1874, the idea of which is as simple as it is obvious: a kind of ‘first-person narrator’ wanders through the gallery and looks at ten paintings in great detail. Maurice Ravel orchestrated them for orchestra in 1922. Giulini’s performance with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra is widely regarded as a reference recording. Prokofiev wrote his first symphony in the middle of the First World War. In sound and form, it differs from other works by the composer. No gigantic late romantic orchestra, no performance time of an hour, but a classical orchestra, and only fifteen minutes are needed for his ‘Symphony No. 1’, which was written in 1916/17.

1 Promenade 1
2 Gnomus
3 Promenade 2
4 The Old Castle
5 Promenade 3
6 Tuileries
7 Bydlo (The Oxcart)
8 Promenade 4
9 Ballet of the Unhatched Chicks
10 Samuel Goldenberg and Schmuyle
11 The Market at Limoges
12 Catacombae (Sepulchrum Romanum)
13 Cum Mortuis in Lingua Mortua
14 The Hut On Fowl’s Legs (Baba Yaga)
15 The Great Gates of Kyiv
16 I. Allegro
17 II. Larghetto
18 III. Gavotte. Non Troppo Allegro
19 IV. Finale. Molto Vivace