At the time of its release – 1960 – Ansermet’s stereo recording of the Mussorgsky-Ravel ‘Pictures at an Exhibition’ was demonstration worthy, and it still, today, retains its sense of space and impact. Much of the remainder of the program makes its first international appearance on CD, and the ‘Dance of the Persian Slaves’ (from Khovanshchina) and the little ‘Gopak’ from ‘Sorochintsy Fair’ will be especially sought after by collectors. The CD of Mussorgsky orchestrations is filled-out with a comparative rarity – Balakirev’s haunting symphonic poem ‘Tamara’, a temptress who seduces and murders ill-fated travellers.
MODEST MUSSORGSKY
Pictures at an Exhibition (arr. M. Ravel)
Night on a Bare Mountain
Khovanshchina (completed and orchestrated by Rimsky-Korsakov)
Prelude
Dance of the Persian Slaves
Gopak from Sorochintsy Fair (orch. Liadov)
MILI BALAKIREV
Tamara – Symphonic Poem
L’Orchestre de la Suisse Romande
Ernest Ansermet
Recording producers: Michael Williamson (Pictures at an Exhibition); James Walker (Gopak, Tamara); Michael Bremner (Night on a Bare Mountain, Khovanshchina)
Recording engineers: Roy Wallace (Pictures at an Exhibition); James Lock (Night on a Bare Mountain, Khovanshchina); Wilkinson (Gopak); Roy Wallace, Gil Went (Tamara)
Recording location: Victoria Hall, Geneva, Switzerland, June 1954 (Tamara), October 1955 (Gopak), November 1959 (Pictures at an Exhibition); April 1964 (Night on a Bare Mountain, Khovanshchina)
‘a little known gem … utterly convincing’ Fanfare