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Sa Chen Plays Mussorgsky & Rachmaninov

Sa Chen

19,9928,49
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Original Recording Format: DSD 64
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At present, Modest Mussorgsky’s reputation is based principally on three works: his opera Boris Godunov, his orchestral work A Night on the Bare Mountain and his piano cycle Pictures at an Exhibition. Certainly, it must be mentioned that these pieces did not set out on their triumphant journey throughout the world of music in their original form.

In fact, they made their appearance in revisions carried out by other composers: Boris and A Night on the Bare Mountain in versions by Rimsky-Korsakov, and the Pictures in the orchestral version by Ravel. On this album, the Pictures are performed in their original piano version and the Night in Rimsky-Korsakov’s version, but transcribed for piano by Konstantin N. Chernov.

 

 

Tracklist

Please note that the below previews are loaded as 44.1 kHz / 16 bit.
1.
6 Etudes Tableaux - Op. 33 No. 2 in C major
02:50
2.
Op. 39 No. 4 in B minor
03:43
3.
Op. 33 No. 5 (originally No. 8) in G minor
04:24
4.
Op. 39 No. 6 in A minor
03:09
5.
Op. 39 No. 5 in E flat minor
05:34
6.
Op. 33 No. 3 (originally No. 6) in E flat minor
01:59
7.
A Night on Bald Mountain
11:59
8.
Pictures at an Exhibition - Promenade
01:18
9.
Gnomus
02:49
10.
Promenade
00:50
11.
Il vecchio Castello
04:28
12.
Promenade
00:25
13.
Tuileries (Dispute d'enfants apres jeux)
01:02
14.
Bydlo
03:06
15.
Promenade
00:41
16.
Ballet of the Unhatched Chicks
01:15
17.
"""Samuel"" Goldenberg and ""Schmuyle"""
02:08
18.
Promenade
01:18
19.
Limoges. Le march? (La grande nouvelle)
01:19
20.
Catacombae (Sepulcrum romanum)
01:36
21.
"Promenade ""Con mortuis in lingua mortua"""
02:04
22.
The Hut on Chicken's Legs (Baba-yaga)
03:32
23.
The Heroic Gate (in the Old Capital of Kiev)
05:02

Total time: 01:06:31

Additional information

Label

SKU

PTC5186355

Qualities

, ,

Channels

, ,

Artists

Composers

,

Genres

,

Instruments

Original Recording Format

Producer

Job Maarse

Recording Engineer

Jean Marie Geijsen

Recording location

Concertboerderij Valthermond, The Netherlands

Recording Software

Pyramix, Merging Technologies

Recording Type & Bit Rate

DSD 64

Release DateAugust 7, 2015

Press reviews

The Whole Note

From the haunting opening measures of the Rachmaninoff Etude-Tableau Op.33 No.2, it’s clear that Sa Chen is a musician of the first-rank, one who combines a flawless technique with an innate musicality. She presents 6 Etudes in all, drawn from Opp.33 and 39, and throughout, her playing is marked by a delicacy of shading with never a moment of bravura for its own sake.

As equally demanding as the Etudes-Tableaux is A Night on Bald Mountain, Modest Mussorgsky’s first major work for orchestra – a tale of spirits, witchcraft, and bells tolling at dawn, a sort of 19th century Thriller, 90 years before Michael Jackson. The piano transcription is as difficult as it sounds, and Sa Chen approaches the music with a splendid panache. Nevertheless, in my opinion, she leaves the best until last, with Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition from 1874. Inspired by a group of paintings by Victor Hartmann, the work encompasses a myriad of contrasting moods, and Sa Chen captures them all effortlessly, thereby bringing to a close this most satisfying DSD recording.

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