Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition, A Night on Bald Mountain, and Other Russian Showpieces [Hybrid SACD]

I love this record. I've always loved "Pictures" but never owned a copy. When I found it was available on SACD, I had to get it since it's the best consumer distribution format I've ever heard. The recording was great in its day and still holds well over many more "technologically advanced" recordings. Really, the most of the best classical recordings are done with 2 or 3 microphones and a stereo or 3-track tape recorder. My one peve with this album is that they used some pretty heavy digital noise reduction which saps some of the life out of the string section. The horns are still clean and clear though and the percussion is as it should be. The recording really didn't need much (if any) noise reduction really as it was so clean in the first place but for some reason the engineers felt obligated to push down the noise even further. In light of that, I can see why people try to get the original LPs whenever possible. But it's still a great performance with lots of realism (like musician's breath or turning pages) reminding you there's people making this music. Many new recordings are artificially forced to be so steryl and clean they sound fake. This sounds like an orchestra in my room. A worthy buy for any SACD enthusiast.

Conductor Fritz Reiner is unbelievably precise with the baton with just enough emotional fervor, energy, and commitment to rouse the phenomenal Chicago players of the late 1950's to one of the greatest compilations of a colorful Russian showcase. The Pictures is one of the finest I have ever heard and the Colas Breugnon and Borodin pieces are exceptionally delightful treats. The mastering is spectacular in all three specialized CD formats and the compatibility is extraordinary.

Sorry for not being a sound engineer, but unlike previous reviewers I would like to talk about the performance only. This is one of the best played and recorded Pictures at an Exhibition, OK, but also one of the most uninvolving ever: what I hear here is mere virtuosity! Reiner conducts all the work in the same comfortable, perfect and uncommitted manner, and does not seem to realize at any time that these pictures, well, are supposed to depict something! These are not abstract paintings, yet Reiner goes through the whole of it like one who does not understand anything to art.

The other works are a totally different matter though, and that is why I would still recommend this CD - Mussorgsky's Night on the Bald Mountain in particular is one of the most terrifying ever, full of glaring lightning. The disc will also give you the opportunity to discover Kabalevsky's overture to Colas Breugnon (Toscanini also recorded it and it was part of his 1990s 72-volume edition on RCA - if you manage to find it...).

But as far as the Pictures are concerned, there are many other much more compelling performances which really make the pictures spring to life! It must be said that this work conveys so many different atmospheres that all conductors and pianists are convincing in some of them... and less inspired in other ones (one could write an article about which recording to recommend for every single picture!). Try Ormandy on RCA (his Gnomus is incredibly sinister and unsettling), Karajan's last recording with the BPO in the 80s (DG), who is very impressive throughout but particularly outstanding in Il Vecchio Castello, and from Catacombs to the Great Gate of Kiev (as imposing as Boris Godunov!), Muti on EMI... or Toscanini.

This Reiner CD is best to be recommended for its other-than-Pictures second half!

This sacd is positively stunning. I am young. I was raised on gizmos, gadgets and hi-tech this and that...and for the life of me I can't understand how these engineers back in the 50's and 60's produced such astoundingly detailed recordings. With two or three mics for the hall and some tube equipment and wham...there you have it...a recording of impressively powerful pieces of music with enough separation and detail within the mix to keep the listener busy for hours and hours on end. That and the emotional wallop packed by this recording is second to none. Even if you have copies aplenty of Pictures, or Night on..., such as I do myself, please do not hesitate to pick up this recording as it is worth every dime. If you are looking for an interesting counterpoint to Reiner's reading of Pictures or Night pick of Jose Serebrier's recording on Naxos.

Such great music. Exercise and listening
to this one is a great combination.
Time seems to fly by and before you know
it. Times up!