2. music
  3. 186868-1635

Pictures at an Exhibition

For someone who studied music in college, I somehow managed to miss Moussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition until now. I admit I’m not a fan of large-scale orchestral works, so I avoided it not knowing that it was originally written for solo piano. I picked up both CD and vinyl copies of the solo piano version and I think it is fabulous. A wonderful mix of simplicity and virtuosity and I can’t recommend it highly enough. I’m definitely tempted to pick up another version.

Plese let me know if you are aware of any outstanding performances of this piece. Thanks 

chayro

Showing 1 response by snilf

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snilf
194 posts
 

It was my impression the OP was asking for piano performances, not the version orchestrated by Ravel.

An audiophile friend (Focal speakers, Linn table, etc.) considers the Ivo Pogorelich recording (DGG "4D" from 1997) to be his reference standard for piano recordings. And it is very fine: very natural, with the microphones at a normal listener’s distance from the instrument. Pogorelich is (or was) an interesting figure, by the way. I’ve got lots of stories about him; my wife was a musicologist and concert organizer in the former Yugoslavia. Amazing technique!

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