Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition/Balakirev: Islamey

On this CD:

1. Pictures at an Exhibition (Kartinki s vïstavski), for piano
Composed by Modest Mussorgsky
Performed by Jeno Jando

2. Islamey--Oriental Fantasy, for piano
Composed by Mily Balakirev
Performed by Jeno Jando

3. Gopak (Hopak), for piano, transcribed by Mussorgsky from the opera Sorochintsï Fair
Composed by Modest Mussorgsky
Performed by Jeno Jando

4. On the Southern Shore of the Crimea (Na yuzhnom beregu Krïma), for piano No. 1, Gurzuf
Composed by Modest Mussorgsky
Performed by Jeno Jando

5. On the Southern Shore of the Crimea (Na yuzhnom beregu Krïma), for piano No. 2, Capriccio
Composed by Modest Mussorgsky
Performed by Jeno Jando

6. Une larme (A Tear), for piano
Composed by Modest Mussorgsky
Performed by Jeno Jando

Customer Reviews:

Graffman on Tchaikovsky, Balakirev, and Mussourgsky.......2006-10-04

All of the other reviewers below have said all that can be said about this 2 CD set of Graffman's performace of all three Tchaikovsky piano concertos. Superb performances of all three. The second and third concertos have always been lesser known among concert-going audiences; the singing melody of the opening of the first concerto and the "war horse" status is has achieved has cast a long shadow over the second and third concertos (akin to the situation we find between the Rachmaninoff second and third concertos). Nonetheless, the second concerto is equally good but quite different. The third movement of the second is simply fantastic music, and Graffman really plays it extraordinarily well and riveting (listen to those octaves!). Graffman does not really have the reputation of being a "super virtuoso" (or does he? I might be wrong). But upon a listening of his performance of Balakirev's Islamey, one sits back in the chair and gasps, "I had no idea!" This is one of the most even and over all best performances of Islamey I've ever heard (yes, Barere's might be faster, but Graffman's is better; and if you want tempo in your Islamey, Graffman's is right up there; it is not as slow or dragging as other recordings). Graffman is really a solid, tasetful, and great pianist. One wishes that he had recorded more of the Romantic solo piano repertoire. These recordings of the Tchaikovsky concertos are some of the best. Barry Douglas' performance of the first is a bit more riveting than Graffman, but Graffman's version seems to possess a quality that is lacking in all other versions of this concerto. Highly recommended.

Proves there is more to Tchaikovsky than sentimentality!.......2006-06-15

This remains one of my favourite two recordings of Tchaikovsky's 1st concerto because Graffman unearths more depth and seriousness than any pianist I have so far heard. His interpretation is not as red-hot as Horowitz's (still the benchmark or reference by which any other must be measured), but so utterly free from superficiality and at the same time the artificiality of others who have tried as hard to prove there is more than sentimentality, heroism and Russian gloom to this warhorse.
Surprisingly, if there is any weekness to the performance as a whole, it would be Szell's no more than solid, less than enthusiastic accompaniment. Being a Szell and Cleveland fan (who is not?), I just know he could have done better (as Kondrashin did for Van Cliburn). No big matter, though.
This latest remastering is certainly the most successful I have heard (and this is one of those recordings I buy again every time a sonically improved version becomes available), in fact, I could hardly believe how much more full-bodied yet natural it sounds compared to Sony's earlier release.

Having said all this, I feel it does improve one's view of the composition if you own and listen to alternative recordings, and I strongly believe that doing so is the only way to keep the most famous classical warhorses from wearing off. Favourite alternative versions include Horowitz/Toscanini, Cliburn/Kondrashin, Janis/Menges, Richter/Karajan, all inspired and positively different from each other (and all but Horowitz in very good to fine stereo).

As to the interpretations of Tchaikovsky's 2nd and 3rd concerti with Ormandy, I must admit I only know a handful of alternatives, but I promise if you own these recordings, you will not need any. Most inspired collaborations of soloist and orchestra that will make you listen to these lesser-known concerti much more often than you might think.

Graffman's Pictures are a bit uneven - attractive in places, though on the whole no competition to Janis, Horowitz and Richter. Graffman's Islamey, on the other hand, is awesome, and is recorded in so much better sounding stereo than Arrau's historic 1928 recording.

In a nutshell: a set to cherish!

Greetings from Switzerland, David.

Legendary golden performances!.......2005-12-31

At last! after a long waiting, the Sonny label has released this treasured album. The First piano Concerto is elegant and thundering with a persuasive and mercurial approach. One of my Five superior choices of this well known piece.

The Second Piano Concerto simply is insuperable. I do not know about another performance that can steal its primacy. It possesses Oriental Fantasy, Caucasian passion, and febrile Balkan intensity. Graffman was truly enraptured and inspired as Ormandy did. This team made the most incandescent and Imperial performances of these two Piano Concertos Two and Three played with minor frequency than the First one.

Finally these Pictures are authentically sparkling and superbly performed. In what Islamey concerns, two serious rivals: Simon Barere and Julius Katchen marked an abysmal distance respect the other players, and this version might be the Third choice.

Voilá for this release.

Best Ever Tchaikovsky Concerti.......2005-10-09

I've been waiting over 20 years for these recordings to make it to CD. The long wait is finally over, and I can again revel in the finest readings these works have ever received. The piano playing is simply astonishing. The orchestral playing and conducting totally sympathetic. From Ormandy (2 & 3) that's no surprise, but anyone who thinks of the late George Szell as a cold, calculating conductor is in for a shock: this first piano concerto is thrilling and as romantic as they come. If you are looking for a set of Tchaikovsky piano concertos, stop and look no further. There have been many recordings since these came out in LP, but none have been as great. (One cautionary note: the second movement of the 2nd concerto uses the Siloti edition, but I'll over look that.) I can still remember the critical quote on the original LP: "Stunning, pure gold!" It still it.

Average customer rating:

Katchen Goes Domestic

The Art of Julius Katchen, Vol. 4

Manufacturer: Decca
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Waltzes | Ballets & Dances | Classical | Styles | Music

Fantasies | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music

Suites | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

The Decca Records Store | Specialty Stores | Music
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The Art of Julius Katchen, Vol. 3
The Art of Julius Katchen, Vol. 2
The Art of Julius Katchen, Vol. 1
The Art of Julius Katchen: Volume 8
Ravel: The Complete Works for Solo Piano

ASIN: B00006IKP5
Release Date: 2004-04-20

Tracks:

I. Allegro Maestoso
II. Quasi Adagio
III. Allegretto Vivace
IV. Allegro Marziale Animato
I. Allegro Sostenuto Assai-Allegro Agitato Assai
II. Allegro Moderato
III. Allegro Deciso-Marziale Un Poco Meno Allegro
IV. Allegro Animato
I. Allegro Molto Moderato
II. Adagio
III. Allegro Moderato Molto E Marcato

Tracks:

I. Gnomus
II. The Old Castle
III. The Tuileries
V. Ballet Of The Unhatched Chicks
VII. The Market In Limoges; VIII. Catacombs
IX. THe Hut On Fowl's Legs; X. The Great Gat Of Kiev
Maphisto Waltz No. 1
Funerailles
Hungarian Rhapsody No. 12
Islamey - Julius Katchen

Album Details

The Fourth Volume of "The Art of Julius Katchen" Edition.

Customer Reviews:

Katchen Goes Domestic.......2004-05-14

After buying a half-dozen of the "Art of Julius Katchen" volumes as expensive imports (see my reviews), I too was finally able to take advantage of purchasing one of the domestic releases at a much lower price. I had not previously purchased this title, Volume 4 in the series, because I already owned Katchen's accounts of the Liszt Piano Concertos with Argenta on a Decca Legends CD (see my review). But the opportunity to hear Katchen perform the Grieg Concerto and an entire disc of solo works for piano, with the Liszt Concertos tossed in, was too great to pass up. The Grieg, with Kertesz conducting the Israel Philharmonic from 1962, is very good but the Liszt Concertos are still the highlight in my opinion. The solo works on CD2 range from Mussorgssky's "Pictures at an Exhibition" and Balakirev's "Islamey" to three pieces by Liszt -- "Mephistio Waltz No. 1," "Funerallies," and "Hungarian Rhapsody No. 12." These performances are all in mono (recorded between 1951 and 1955), and the sound and playing are both excellent. In all, this is a priceless set, even more enjoyable at a cheaper price.

Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition No1-10; Balakirev: Islamey--Oriental Fantasy

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Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition No1-10; Balakirev: Islamey--Oriental Fantasy

Manufacturer: Masterpiece Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Fantasies | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music

Suites | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition / Tchaikovsky: Children's Album / Balakirev: Islamey

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Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition / Tchaikovsky: Children's Album / Balakirev: Islamey
Modest Mussorgsky , Olli Mustonen , Pyotr Tchaikovsky , and Mily Balakirev
Manufacturer: Polygram Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music
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Beethoven: Diabelli Variations

ASIN: B00000E54B
Release Date: 1993-01-19

Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition/Balakirev: Islamey

Average customer rating:

An uninspiring pianist
Drastic, original ... and a pianist who avoids the limelight
An unexciting promenade.
Jando's "Pictures" Divides The Critics

Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition/Balakirev: Islamey

Manufacturer: Naxos
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Dances | Ballets & Dances | Classical | Styles | Music

Fantasies | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music

Suites | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

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ASIN: B0000013J3
Release Date: 1994-02-15

Tracks:

Pictures At An Exhibition
Islamey
Sorochintsy Fair: Hopak
On The Southern Shore Of The Crimea: No.1 Gurzuf
On The Southern Shore Of The Crimea: No.2 Capriccio
Une Larme

Customer Reviews:

An uninspiring pianist.......2005-03-10

Yes, this is a great budget recording, but that is no excuse for an overly simple pianist. Jeno Jando has put no soul into this music. It is only composer, no performer. That is not music! I'm sorry, but I have owned this recording for a few years, and with each listen, I become more disinterested. Jando seems to have no interest in making the performance his own, and plays like a perfect student. All of the notes are in place, but the performer is nowhere to be seen. I saw this in his recordings of Liszt and just about everywhere else. However, if money is an issue, this recording is excellent for the Pictures as well as Islamey. The smaller pieces are very interesting as well. Mussorgsky, unlike the comment from an above reviewer, was a very well developed composer with a unique style. All in all, though, this recording is just "ok."

Drastic, original ... and a pianist who avoids the limelight.......2004-08-07

Modest Mussorgsky (1839-1881) was one of that small group of amateur musicians, known as the "Mighty Handful", who came under the influence of Mily Balakirew and began to develop a Russian national musical language. In its early years, this group was radically dogmatic, reflecting probably the character of its obviously difficult leader. Mussorgsky, at first a dandy and then a hopeless alcoholic, never really developed beyond the stage of an accomplished amateur, and at his death he left a good deal of work unfinished. Perhaps his greatest achievement was his work for the stage ("Boris Godunov"), but I suspect that most music-lovers associate him first of all with his "Pictures of an Exhibition", written and published for piano solo in 1874 as a reaction to the death of the painter-architect Viktor Hartmann in the previous year. Vladimir Stassov had organized an exhibition of Hartmann's work to which Mussorgsky had contributed two drawings. The exhibits were anything but a display of Russian nationalism, reflecting rather Hartmann's years of journeying through Europe. For his musical portrait, Mussorgsky chose pictures not only of Russian themes, but from Poland, Italy and France. He leads the viewer from one picture to another by means of an instantly recognizable theme, the "Promenade", but this gradually merges with the pictures themselves, so that the listener is, without being aware of it, drawn into what he is purportedly just studying as an observer. The individual portraits are given depth by the use of drastic musical means testifying to Mussorgsky's astounding originality: just listen to "Bydlo", "Samuel Goldenberg and Schmuyle" or "La porte de Bohatyrs de Kiew" or even to some of the less substantial portraits!

Hungarian pianist Jeno Jando gives his listeners an almost ideal opportunity to get to know this work: Jando is not one of those pianists who like to turn the limelight on themselves, he rather dedicates himself to allowing the composer have his way and the composition to speak for itself. The recorded sound of this CD is, by Naxos standards, excellent, although the microphones were perhaps a little too near for my taste, one can hear practically every reverberation, every creak of the piano - and Jando makes his concert piano reverberate very often with almost brutal attacks on the keys at points where this seems appropriate.

As "Kartinki s vystavki" (the Russian title) only lasts a good 33 minutes (as so often, Naxos has completely misprinted the timing on the CD cover), Jando offers a number of smaller pieces as an "encore". Four small late pieces by Mussorgsky (from the two years up to his death) are interesting for their Ukrainian melodies, but the main focus here is on Balakirew's "Islamey", an incredibly difficult piece combining three melodies from the Caucasus and Armenia and completed in 1902. Jando masters it with seeming ease; as far as I am aware, this is the only budget-price recording of this piece, and purchasing it is an act of thrift! My five-star evaluation takes account of this value-for-money aspect.

As a footnote I want to add that I prefer Jandó's version to the similarly-priced competition from Harmonia Mundi in the shape of Brigitte Engerer Mussorgsky: Tableaux d'une Exposition/Pictures at an Exhibition/Bilder einer Ausstellung

An unexciting promenade........2001-02-11

Naxos provides warm, natural sounding 1988 piano recording for this collection of Russian music. Jando provides a plain account of the exhibition pictures themselves and the spectator's response to them. He also provides some additional short piano pieces by Mussorgsky - mildly evocative but very minor indeed - and Mussorgsky's own piano version of the Gopak from his unfinished comic opera "Sorochintsy Fair". Balakirev's oriental fantasy "Islamey" makes major technical demands on a pianist, but it too receives plain treatment here.

Those new to these works are advised, if they like them, to shop around for other recorded versions, bearing in mind that none will be as inexpensive as this. Of Victor Hartmann's pictures, which inspired Mussorgsky's "Pictures at an Exhibition", only three survive. Has any record company shown them in their enclosed liner notes?

Jando's "Pictures" Divides The Critics.......1999-12-10

BBC Music rates this CD as one of the "Top 1000", yet the Penquin Guide considers it worthy of only one "Star" (undistinquished at best). The gulf is probably best explained by the fact that this a very straightforward, unaffected version of the piece. If you prefer grand gestures in your romantic piano playing, you will do well to steer towards Horowitz or Pletnev. If you prefer more composer and less performer, Jando's version will suit you fine, as it has me. The recorded sound is good, rather than outstanding. All in all, a fine bargain from the Naxos label.

Newport Festival 30 years: American Debuts

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American Debuts- Newport Festival 30 Years

Newport Festival 30 years: American Debuts

Manufacturer: Newport Music Festiva
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Waltzes | Ballets & Dances | Classical | Styles | Music

Etudes | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music

Fantasies | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music

Preludes | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music

Suites | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music

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Barcarolles | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

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ASIN: B00000HZLH
Release Date: 1999-09-01

Tracks:

La Companella - Andrei Gavrilov
Barcarolle No.1 in a, Op.36 - Jean-Philippe Collard
The Seasons, Op.37a, December: Christmas - Igor Zhukov
Meditation, Op.72, No.5 - Mikhail Pletnev
Nocturne in E flat, Op.55, No.2 - Bella Davidovich
Pictures At An Exhibition: The Hut Of Baba Yaga/The Great Gate Of Kiev - Valery Afanassiev
Impromptu in A flat, Op.142, No.2 - Ekaterina Novitskaya
Traumerei, Op.15, No.7 - Dimitris Sgouros
Sonatina in c - Maria Joao Pires
Rondo in C, Op.73 - Bella Davidovich/Halina Czerny-Stefanska
Partita No.5 in G, BMV 829: Praeambulum - Jean-Louis Steuerman
Son in D, L.122 (K 118) - Maria Tipo
Islamey - Olli Mustonen
Malaguena, Op.165, No.3 - Michel Dalberto

Tracks:

Con Symphonique, Op.102: Scherzo in d - Francois-Rene Duchable/Jean-Philippe Collard
Miroirs: Une Barque Sur L'Ocean - Vlado Perlemuter
Con Etude, 'La Leggierezza' Op.144, No.2 - Dubravka Tomsic
Hungaria Rhap No.6 in D flat - PIETRO DE MARIA
La Valse - Boris Berezovsky
City Lights: Melody - Boris Berezovsky
Two Studies: Gnomenreigen, S.145, No.2 - Alain Jacquon
Str Qt: Menuet - Muza Rubackyte
Russian Round-Dance Op.58, No.1 - Hamish Milne/Boris Berezovsky
Prld in G, Op.32, No.5 - Constantin Lifschitz
Etude in c, Op.10, No.12 - Constantin Lifschitz
Waltz in A flat, Op.40, No.8 - Sergio Fiorentino
Der Rosenkavalier: Waltz Paraphrase - Sergio Fiorentino
Nutcracker: Ste - Ulugbek Palvanov

Customer Reviews:

American Debuts- Newport Festival 30 Years.......2003-04-18

This is a phenomenal collection of stellar performances. If you are a fan of classical piano music, I assure you this collection will never leave your CD player. From Andrei Gavrilov's stunning rendition of La Campanella to Jean-Louis Steuerman's bright and energetic recording of Partita No.5 in G, BMV 829: Praeambulum, this CD will shed new light on the world of classical piano. The pianists represented on the CD are some of the finest of our age. This CD really sparked my interest in classical piano. Unfortunately, I cracked the first cd =( so I'll be buying a few more copies here.