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.
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Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition / Night on Bald Mountain (Studio)
Classique - Paru chez Phoenix USA le 1 nov. 1988
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Night on Bald Mountain
Classique - Paru chez Audiofonic Records le 8 févr. 2020
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Mussorgsky - Colorful
Classique - Paru chez UME - Global Clearing House le 27 févr. 2021
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Mussorgsky: The Capture of Kars, Triumphal March (Digitally Remastered)
USSR State Symphony Orchestra, Yevgeny Svetlanov
Classique - Paru chez EMG Classical le 28 oct. 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Pictures at an Exhibition
Classique - Paru chez Audiofonic Records le 25 janv. 2019
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Tchaikovsky - Swan Lake; Mussorgsky - Boris Godunov; Borodin - Symphony No. 1 in E Flat
Moscow Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra, Pyotr Illitch Tchaïkovski, Modeste Moussorgski, Russian Music Society
Classique - Paru chez Russian Music Society le 20 janv. 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
James Brawn In Recital, Vol. 1
Classique - Paru chez MSR Classics le 17 oct. 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Classical Collection, Vol. 3
Classique - Paru chez Planet Music le 12 févr. 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Modest Mussorgsky. 20 Golden Melodies In Modern Processing
Classique - Paru chez Russian Compact Disc le 20 août 2000
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Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky, Boris Godunov
Classique - Paru chez Classical.com Music le 16 févr. 2009
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Leonard Pennario: The Early Years 1950-1958, Vol. 3
Classique - Paru chez MSR Classics le 8 août 2006
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Promenade (Pictures at an Exhibition)
Alfred Wilhelmsson, Modeste Moussorgski
Classique - Paru chez Wide&Brook le 5 avr. 2024
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mussorgsky: Night at the Lysayer Gorev, Symphonic Fantasy (Digitally Remastered)
Moscow RTV Large Symphony Orchestra, Gennady Cherkasov
Classique - Paru chez EMG Classical le 28 oct. 2014
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Mussorgsky: Scherzo in B-Flat Major (Digitally Remastered)
USSR State Symphony Orchestra, Yevgeny Svetlanov
Classique - Paru chez EMG Classical le 28 oct. 2014
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The Classical Great Series, Vol. 35: Mussorgsky
Classique - Paru chez Global Journey le 13 juin 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Halloween Classical Music
Classique - Paru chez Music Ware le 28 oct. 2016
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Musik Zun Entspannen
Classique - Paru chez Music Ware le 18 mai 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Roberto Bravo de Colección, Vol. 9
Classique - Paru chez JCM le 24 févr. 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mussorgsky - Pictures at an Exhibition
The Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra, Antal Doráti
Classique - Paru chez Sunday Club Records le 31 mai 2012
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The Best of Mussorgsky (Remastered)
Divers - Paru chez Classic Records Ltd. le 27 avr. 2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo