Modeste Moussorgski
His musical education was erratic, he toiled as a civil servant and wrote music only part-time, influenced few if any of his contemporaries, died early from alcoholism, and left a small body of work. Yet Modest Mussorgsky was a towering figure in nineteenth century Russian music. His works exhibit a daring, raw individuality, a unique sound that well-meaning associates tried to conventionalize and smooth over. He is best known for Night on Bald Mountain (bowdlerized by Rimsky-Korsakov), Pictures at an Exhibition (a difficult piano suite orchestrated by Ravel), and the dark, declamatory opera Boris Godunov (polished by Rimsky-Korsakov) -- bastardized works all, yet each one full of arresting harmonies, disturbing colors, and grim celebrations of Russian nationalism.
Mussorgsky died in poverty, but he was born to a wealthy landowning family. Under his mother's tutelage, he developed a facility at the piano, but entered a cadet school in preparation for a military career. He joined a choir and discovered Russian church music, which would profoundly influence his later work.
Upon graduation in 1856, Mussorgsky entered the Russian Imperial Guard. That year he started to socialize with the composers Dargomizhsky and Cui, and through them Balakirev, with whom he began composition lessons. During this period he wrote small piano pieces and songs, and after an emotional crisis in 1858 resigned his commission with the intention of composing full-time. He began to go his own way as a composer in 1861, but was preoccupied helping to manage his family's estate. The decline in his family's fortunes led him to accept low-level civil service positions. He joined a commune with other intellectuals and became a proponent of musical Realism, applying the style to his songs. He had difficulty finishing works in larger formats, but his music circulated widely enough that by the late 1860s he was cast with Balakirev, Cui, Rimsky-Korsakov, and Borodin as part of Russia's "Mighty Handful."
Mussorgsky toiled many years at his masterpiece, Boris Godunov, which reflected in music the inflections of Russian speech and met with great success in 1874. That year he also produced his innovative piano suite Pictures at an Exhibition. Yet his heavy drinking led to his dismissal from government service in 1880. Friends offered some financial help and Mussorgsky occasionally accompanied singers at the piano, but his finances and mental state quickly deteriorated. He died in 1881, leaving it to posterity to sort through and complete his unfinished works of unruly genius.
© TiVo
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Pictures At An Exhibition Part 1
Classical Hits, Schola Camerata, Modeste Moussorgski
Classique - Paru chez Global Art Music le 15 déc. 2023
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mussorgsky: Pictures At An Exhibition
Prague Symphony Orchestra, Jiří Bělohlávek
Musique symphonique - Paru chez Maestro le 1 janv. 1988
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mussorgsky & Stravinsky
Modeste Moussorgski, Geoffrey Saba
Classique - Paru chez Carnegie Concerts le 10 juil. 2003
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Ballet Of The Unhatched Chicks From Pictures At An Exhibition
Modeste Moussorgski, Dunkin Jones
Classique - Paru chez Pastel Records Canada le 1 juil. 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mussorgsky: The Old Castle
Modeste Moussorgski, Thomas Lee
Classique - Paru chez Pastel Records Canada le 1 févr. 2024
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Rimsky-Korsakov: Russian Easter Festival, Capriccio Espagnol - Mussorgsky: Night on Bald Mountain, Pictures at an Exhibition
Radio Symphony Orchestra Ljubljana, Sofia Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonia Slavonica
Classique - Paru chez Blaricum CD Company (B.C.D.) B.V. le 30 avr. 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Мусоргский: Картинки с выставки
Classique - Paru chez Bomba-Piter (Manchester) le 21 juin 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Classics In The Pop Of Treatments. Mussorgsky - The Best
Classique - Paru chez Russian Compact Disc le 11 avr. 1998
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Mussorgsky: Piano Music Vol. 2
Classique - Paru chez Danacord Records le 24 avr. 2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Ormandy In Russia Vol. 5
Classique - Paru chez Pipeline Music le 7 juin 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Pictures at an Exhibition
Classique - Paru chez Pipeline Music le 6 juin 2006
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Pictures at an Exhibition (Classics Collection)
Classique - Paru chez Il Loggione Records le 9 févr. 2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Chaliapin: the Complete Recordings 1907-1936 Volume 6. British and American Recordings
Classique - Paru chez Music Online le 11 sept. 2007
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Mezzo-Soprano: Three Masterpieces of Russian Opera
Opéra - Paru chez Period Records le 24 juil. 1965
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Peter Jablonski: Mussorgsky & Liszt
Classique - Paru chez Altara le 1 janv. 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mussorgsky: The Fair at Sorochyntsi: "Gopak" For Piano (Digitally Remastered)
Opéra - Paru chez EMG Classical le 28 oct. 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Simply Mussorgsky
Classique - Paru chez UME - Global Clearing House le 1 mai 2021
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Deep Feelings (Electronic Version)
Électronique - Paru chez Digi Records le 27 août 2021
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Promenade (feat. Roger Roman)
Classique - Paru chez CP Projects - Solo Piano le 4 avr. 2013
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Tuileries. Piano Works by Bach, Bartok & Mussorsgky
Irene Cantos, Johann Sebastian Bach, Béla Bartók, Modeste Moussorgski, Henry Purcell
Classique - Paru chez Novus Promusica le 19 mars 2024
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo