Mussorgsky/messiaen/ravel - Peter Donohoe - Audio CD (Arrives in 50 days)

One of the pinnacles of nineteenth-century pianism, Modest Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition broke new frontiers in its writing for the piano through its use of ringing bell-like sonorities, dramatic juxtaposition of registers and dynamics, its approach to resonance, percussive octaves and rapid hand-alternations, and sheer grandeur of sound.

Mussorgsky’s masterpiece is coupled here with works by Ravel and Messiaen – composers who were indebted to the innovations of their Russian predecessor.

Miroirs comprises a set of five pieces evoking contrasting moods and pianistic characters. Far from being Impressionist – a movement with which Ravel had little real affiliation –the ‘Mirrors’ of the title suggests more Symbolist associations in that the individual pieces explore ambiguities between supposed reality and ‘reflected’ simulation.

An unusually non-descriptive work for Messiaen, without religious references or bird- song, Cantéyodjayâ is about musical process and is constructed as a mosaic-like collage in which a jaunty rhythmic refrain is contrasted with a multiplicity of contrasting ideas, many of which are re-workings from his gargantuan Turangalîla-Symphonie.

Tracklist

1. Pictures At an Exhibition: Promenade I
2. Pictures At an Exhibition: Gnomus
3. Pictures At an Exhibition: Promenade Ii
4. Pictures At an Exhibition: the Old Castle
5. Pictures At an Exhibition: Promenade Iii
6. Pictures At an Exhibition: Tuileries
7. Pictures At an Exhibition: Bydlo
8. Pictures At an Exhibition: Promenade Iv
9. Pictures At an Exhibition: Ballet of the Unhatched Chicks
10. Pictures At an Exhibition: Samuel Goldberg and Schmuyle
11. Pictures At an Exhibition: Promenade V
12. Pictures At an Exhibition: the Market Place At Limoges
13. Pictures At an Exhibition: Catacombs
14. Pictures At an Exhibition: the Hut On Hen's Legs
15. Pictures At an Exhibition: the Great Gate of Kiev
16. Miroirs: Noctuelles
17. Miroirs: Oiseaux Tristes
18. Miroirs: Une Barque Sur L'ocean
19. Miroirs: Alborada Del Gracioso
20. Miroirs: La Vallie Des Cloches
21. Canteyodjaya

Label: Signum Classics | Origin: Holland