Mussorgsky: Pictures At an Exhibition/Khachaturian: Spa

Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Vasily Petrenko

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

Mussorgsky:
 Pictures at an Exhibition

Rachmaninov:
 How fair this spot, Op. 21 No. 7

Shchedrin:
 Concerto for Orchestra No. 1 'Tschastuschi' (Naughty Limericks)

"This is one of those discs that commands respect (this conductor is pretty much always a safe investment) without setting the world on fire...Perhaps the most interesting aspect of Petrenko’s account of the Mussorgsky/ Ravel Pictures is that it feels mindful of the piano original in the way that it is inflected and shaped. Picture for picture it’s hard to fault playing or characterisation on a leisurely stroll round the gallery – but then again, do any of these aural images really leap out at you? Yes and no."
Gramophone Magazine - February 2020

: 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 - February 2020 ****