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
-
Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition, Night on Bald Mountain & Khovanshchina (Excerpts) - Borodin: In the Steppes of Central Asia
Modeste Moussorgski, Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra, Leonard Slatkin
Clásica - Editado por Vox el 1 ene. 1996
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mussorgsky: Boris Godunov
Clásica - Editado por Music Online el 27 sept. 2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mussorgksy: Tableaux d'une exposition – Bach: Chaconne – Liszt: Totentanz (Transcriptions pour orgue)
Clásica - Editado por VDE-GALLO el 8 ago. 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Modest Mussorgsky / Claire Chevallier
Clásica - Editado por Cypres el 11 nov. 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition, Borodin: In The Steppes of Central Asia, Glinka: Russian and Ludmilla
Clásica - Editado por Lodia Music International el 25 abr. 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mussorgsky: Pictures at an exhibition & Night on Bald Mountain
Clásica - Editado por Everest Records el 10 jul. 1960
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Modest Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition - Complete Orchestral & Piano Versions
Clásica - Editado por Cobra Entertainment LLC el 11 nov. 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition - Schumann: Symphony No. 2
Clásica - Editado por Urania el 31 jul. 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mussorgsky: Night on Bald Mountain, Dawn on the Moscow River etc.
Clásica - Editado por Music Online el 7 dic. 2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
GRANDI VOCI - NICOLAI GHIAUROV Una collana dedicata con registrazioni originali Decca e Deutsche Grammophon rimasterizzate con le tecniche più moderne che ne garantiscono eccellenza tecnica e artistica
Nicolaï Ghiaurov, Giuseppe Verdi, Modeste Moussorgski
Clásica - Editado por UME - Global Clearing House el 27 abr. 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mussorgsky: Unorthodox Music
Claire Booth, Christopher Glynn
Clásica - Editado por AVIE Records el 15 oct. 2021
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Chaliapin: the Complete Recordings 1907-1936 Volume 5. British and American Recordings
Clásica - Editado por Music Online el 10 sept. 2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mussorgsky - Borodin
Orquesta Nacional de Montecarlo, Orquesta Sinfónica de la Radio de Hamburgo, Orquesta Nacional de la Radio de Francia
Clásica - Editado por JamadaDigital el 18 dic. 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Halloween At Home
Franz Liszt, Modeste Moussorgski, Antonín Dvořák
Clásica - Editado por UME - Global Clearing House el 19 oct. 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition
Clásica - Editado por Heritage Records el 4 ago. 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mussorgsky: Une Larme (A Tear) For Piano [Digitally Remastered]
Clásica - Editado por EMG Classical el 28 oct. 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Absolutely The Best Of Mussorgsky
Clásica - Editado por Worldwide Records el 19 ene. 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Gnomus (feat. Roger Roman)
Clásica - Editado por CP Projects - Solo Piano el 4 abr. 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mussorgsky: Khovanshchina
Clásica - Editado por Music Online el 15 oct. 2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
MUSSORGSKY: Pictures at an Exhibition
Christian Lindberg, Israel NK orchestra, Modeste Moussorgski
Clásica - Editado por EUROPEAN GRAMOPHONE el 10 ago. 2021
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Mussorgsky: Piano Music Vol. 1
Clásica - Editado por Danacord Records el 1 ene. 2000
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo