Pictures at an exhibition

[chopithoven]

Next saturday 23 I will attend a performance of Pictures at an exhibition conducted by Charles Dutoit in the mark of the 2002 Buenos Aires Martha Argerich Festival, and I would like to know if all of the pictures from Victor Hartmann's exhibition which inspired Mussorgsky have survived, or if only several of them did survive, because I've been desperately seeking in lots of websites for Gnomus, Il vecchio castello, Tuileries, Bydlo, Limoges market and Cum mortuis in lingua morta, and I can't find them. So I suspect that the mentioned pictures have dissapeared from Earth, or not? Help please.

[Chaszz]

Originally posted by chopithoven:
Next saturday 23 I will attend a performance of Pictures at an exhibition conducted by Charles Dutoit in the mark of the 2002 Buenos Aires Martha Argerich Festival, and I would like to know if all of the pictures from Victor Hartmann's exhibition which inspired Mussorgsky have survived, or if only several of them did survive, because I've been desperately seeking in lots of websites for Gnomus, Il vecchio castello, Tuileries, Bydlo, Limoges market and Cum mortuis in lingua morta, and I can't find them. So I suspect that the mentioned pictures have dissapeared from Earth, or not? Help please.

Evidently the verdict on Hartmann by posterity is less approving than Mussorgsky's. The pictures have mostly disappeared, according to one source. None of the large web fine art image sites has any of his pictures listed, including the St. Petersburg Hermitage Museum, and Olga's Gallery, which has a good representation of Russian painters. Sorry, it looks like your quest is more or less fruitless.

[chopithoven]

Originally posted by Chaszz:
Evidently the verdict on Hartmann by posterity is less approving than Mussorgsky's. The pictures have mostly disappeared, according to one source. None of the large web fine art image sites has any of his pictures listed, including the St. Petersburg Hermitage Museum, and Olga's Gallery, which has a good representation of Russian painters. Sorry, it looks like your quest is more or less fruitless.

I supposed that. Thanks.

[dice45]

chopithoven,

should you be interested in recordings of good performances, <hinthint> look for Vladimir Horowitz's one on the piano. It's magic.
And should yo be into Ravel's orchestrated version, try out the fancy RCA Victor recording from the early 60ies: Fritz Reiner conducting Chicago SO.
Both are my favourites for this works.

[chopithoven]

Originally posted by dice45:
chopithoven,

should you be interested in recordings of good performances, <hinthint> look for Vladimir Horowitz's one on the piano. It's magic.
And should yo be into Ravel's orchestrated version, try out the fancy RCA Victor recording from the early 60ies: Fritz Reiner conducting Chicago SO.
Both are my favourites for this works.

Oh, I thought the piano performance by Richter live from Sofia was the best one. Regarding Horowitz (and correct me if I'm wrong) I think he made his own arrangement of Mussorgsky's original score, and it required a much bigger virtuosism, suited to Vladimir's capabilities. However, the arrangement I mention was probably never recorded, but I'm not sure.
In what respects to the Ravel orchestration, I think I won't enjoy the work so much as I did in the mentioned concert, no matter who conducts it.

[dice45]

there is no best performance ....
there only is a particular performance leading you (or me) closer to the opus' spirit. Can be different performances for you and me
To be honest, i was not too much into that music and i knew only many performances repelling me, those two pull me in.

I do not know the Richter performance, have to try that out. Thanks for the hint
I don't think however there is a big difference between Richter's and Horowitz' technical/manual capabilities. Both have unlimited skills manually.
But you can be right and Horowitz made his own adaption. It's leading me closest to what i sense as the spirit of the opus. So does the Reiner performance of the Ravel orchestration.

------------------
Greets,
Bernhard

[chopithoven]

Originally posted by dice45:
there is no best performance ....
there only is a particular performance leading you (or me) closer to the opus' spirit. Can be different performances for you and me
To be honest, i was not too much into that music and i knew only many performances repelling me, those two pull me in.

I do not know the Richter performance, have to try that out. Thanks for the hint
I don't think however there is a big difference between Richter's and Horowitz' technical/manual capabilities. Both have unlimited skills manually.
But you can be right and Horowitz made his own adaption. It's leading me closest to what i sense as the spirit of the opus. So does the Reiner performance of the Ravel orchestration.

Correct. I think Pictures is a work which admits rather different interpretations, not like other works which are more rigid (eg: a Beethoven piano sonata), and therefore there can be many varied but not incorrect focuses.
I'd like to know if you think that the "spirit of the opus" you mention is more patent in the piano version or in the orchestration, which is paradoxically more popular.

[dice45]

Horowitz was the 1st on the piano to make my jaw literally drop on the floor.
More than the Ravel orchestration condicted by Reiner. I was sucked in. And it is the 1st time i listen to the music, not use the music as vehicle for stunning sonics.

The Reiner, well, that's an utterly stunning early stereo recording, stunning in performance as well as in sonics. My preferred orchestra performance. Very plausible and detailed, very rich. Some pieces like "Gnomus" have the impact of a wrecking ball .
But, to be honest, i am not that deep into Romantic music, my soul has a hole there. The mental access to that opus does not happen via the orchestral performance. But Horowitz has a magic in his play and his interpretation which is giving me access to the opus.

------------------
Greets,
Bernhard

[Sorrano]

Originally posted by dice45:
Horowitz was the 1st on the piano to make my jaw literally drop on the floor.
More than the Ravel orchestration condicted by Reiner. I was sucked in. And it is the 1st time i listen to the music, not use the music as vehicle for stunning sonics.

The Reiner, well, that's an utterly stunning early stereo recording, stunning in performance as well as in sonics. My preferred orchestra performance. Very plausible and detailed, very rich. Some pieces like "Gnomus" have the impact of a wrecking ball .
But, to be honest, i am not that deep into Romantic music, my soul has a hole there. The mental access to that opus does not happen via the orchestral performance. But Horowitz has a magic in his play and his interpretation which is giving me access to the opus.

I doubt that Mussourgsky had any intent of having the work orchestrated. (Several well intentioned composers/orchestrators/arrangers have nearly ruined some of his finest pieces by not leaving them alone--Boris Godonov, for example.) While I do enjoy the Ravel version I always prefer to hear the piano as it was intended. Night on Bald Mountain is another piece of his I much prefer as he intended it--has anyone heard the original in the opera setting where it comes from? With the chorus? I think it's simply wonderful!