Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition & Khachaturian, Kabalevsky, Shchedrin & Rachmaninov

Onyx / 2019

A Russian orchestral showcase from Vasily Petrenko and the award willing Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra present a programme of Russian orchestral classics – with some surprises.

Ravel’s brilliant orchestration of Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition and Khachaturian’s sumptuously romantic suite from his ballet ‘Spartacus’ with its famous ‘Adagio’ keep company

with Kabalevsky’s fizzing overture to his opera ‘Colas Breugnon’ and Schehedrin’s ‘Naughty Limericks plus a wistful Rachmaninov song in beautiful orchestral arrangement.

Kabalevsky: Colas Breugnon Overture

Khachaturian: Spartacus Ballet Suite

Adagio of Spartacus and Phrygia
Variations of Aegina and Bacchanalia
Scene and Dances with Crotalums
Dance of Gaditanae and Victory of Spartacus
Shchedrin: Concerto for Orchestra No. 1 ‘Tschastuschi’ (Naughty Limericks)

Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition

I. Promenade [1]
II. Gnomus
III. Promenade [2]
IV. Vecchio castello
V. Promenade [3]
VI. Tuileries
VII. Bydlo
VIII. Promenade [4]
IX. Ballet of the unhatched chicks
X. Samuel Goldenberg and Schmuyle
XI. The Market at Limoges
XII. Catacombe
XIII. Con mortuis in lingua mortua
XIV. The Hut on Fowl’s Legs (Baba-Yagá)
XV. The Great Gate at Kiev

“This entertainment alternatives between relatively unfamiliar short works and famous showstoppers. Petrenko and his Liverpool players make the liveliest possible argument for Kabalevsky’s Colas Breugnon…There’s not been a finer balance of direct poetry and brazen oom-pah in the usual suspects from Khachaturian’s big Roman ballet Spartacus; careful pacing makes the swoons of the famous Adagio unhackneyed.” – BBC Music Magazine