Mussorgsky: Scenes from Boris Godunov; Pictures at an Exhibition; London; Schippers; Ormandy
Modest Mussorgsky: Scenes from Boris Godunov - George London, bass; Columbia Symphony Orchestra and Chorus; Thomas Schippers; Pictures at an Exhibition (orch. M. Ravel) - The Philadelphia Orchestra; Eugen Ormandy
Classical | 1 CD | EAC Rip | 376 Mb | FLAC+LOG+M3U+Cue | RS links
Publisher: Sony Classical
Mussorgsky: Scenes from Boris Godunov; Pictures at an Exhibition; London; Schippers; Ormandy
At last, Sony offers a domestic reissue of the finest recording of Pictures at an Exhibition in the history of the universe. Well, okay, there are other terrific versions, including Reiner (RCA) and Abbado (DG), but this one has everything–great playing and a big, gutsy interpretation that not only characterizes each section beautifully but also welds the suite together into an extremely satisfying whole. The panoramic final pages, from the start of the tolling bell section, have no peer in terms of detail and sheer sonic splendor, and this is one of the best-sounding recordings that Ormandy and Philly ever got from Sony. So the bottom line is that if you don't own this and you love the work, you need it, and urgently. To be fair, I understand why reissuing it wasn't a priority: Sony has other, excellent versions of the piece, including Bernstein's and Szell's; but even among an embarrassment of riches this is the one to have.
Ironically, Pictures gets second billing on this disc. The headline event is a selection of excerpts from Boris Godunov featuring George London in the title role. You get the coronation scene, Boris' Act 2 monologue, the hallucination scene, and his farewell and death. London recorded the work complete with Bolshoi forces a couple of years after this recording (they all date from the early to mid-1960s), and that version also was released by Sony. God only knows if it's still available. London sounds in marginally fresher voice here–his imposing but always slightly gravelly timbre had not yet degenerated into a wobble–but he's just fine in the Bolshoi set too. Thomas Schippers conducts with typical flair and gets good results from both the chorus and orchestra, and there's no denying the attraction of having an all-Mussorgsky disc that doesn't offer the same old stuff (like A Night on Bald Mountain and one or two other fillers). Nevertheless, Ormandy's Pictures remains the major event. [6/14/2006]
–David Hurwitz
On this CD:
1. Scenes from Boris Godunov/Prologue, Scene 2 (The square in the Moscow Kremlin): Da zdrávstvuyet Tsar Borís Feódorovich! [Prince Shuiski: Long live Tsar Boris Feodorovich!]
2. Scenes from Boris Godunov/Uzh kak na nébe sólntsu krásnomu [Even as glory to the radiant sun]
3. Scenes from Boris Godunov/Skorbit dushá! [My soul is torn with anguish!]
4. Scenes from Boris Godunov/Sláva! [Glory!]
5. Scenes from Boris Godunov/Boris' Monologue from Act II: Dostig ya visshey vlasti
6. Scenes from Boris Godunov/Dialogue and Hallucination Scene from Act II: Ty zachém? [What do you want?]
7. Scenes from Boris Godunov/Velíkii gosudár, chelóm byu [Mighty lord…]
8. Scenes from Boris Godunov/Ne kázen strashná, strashná tvoyá nemílost [It is not death that is hard to bear…]
9. Scenes from Boris Godunov/Uf tyazheló! [God, how stifling it's become!]
10. Scenes from Boris Godunov/Bori's Farewell to his Son and Death of Boris from Act IV: Scene II: Ostav'te nas! Ujdite vse!
11. Scenes from Boris Godunov/Zvon!…Pogrebálnyi zvon! [Listen! It's ringing!…The funeral bell is ringing!]
12. Pictures at an Exhibition/Promenade. Allegro giusto, nel modo russico; senza allegrezza, ma poco sostenuto
13. Pictures at an Exhibition/I. Gnomus (The Gnome). Vivo
14. Pictures at an Exhibition/Promenade. Moderato comodo e con delicatezza
15. Pictures at an Exhibition/II. Il vecchio castello (The old castle). Andante molto cantabile e con dolore
16. Pictures at an Exhibition/Promenade. Moderato non tanto, pesamente Eugene Ormandy
17. Pictures at an Exhibition/III. Tuileries (Children's dispute after game). Allegretto non troppo, capriccioso
18. Pictures at an Exhibition/IV. Bydlo. Sempre moderato, pesante
19. Pictures at an Exhibition/Promenade. Tranquillo Eugene Ormandy
20. Pictures at an Exhibition/V. Ballet des petits poussins dans leurs coques (Ballet of the unhatched chickens). Scherzino: Vivo leggiero
21. Pictures at an Exhibition/VI. Samuel Goldenburg and Schmuyle. Andante
22. Pictures at an Exhibition/VII. Limoges: le marché (The market place of Limoges). Allegretto vivo, sempre scherzando
23. Pictures At An Exhibition/VIII. Catacombae: Sepulchrum Romanum (Catacombs: A Roman Grave). Largo
24. Pictures at an Exhibition/Cum mortuis in lingua morta (With the dead in a dead language). Andante non troppo, con lamento
25. Pictures at an Exhibition/IX. La cabane de Baba-Yaga sur des pattes de poule (The hut of Baba-Yaga on chicken's legs). Allegro con brio, feroce - Andante mosso - Allegro molto
26. Pictures at an Exhibition/X. La grande porte de Kiev (The great gate of Kiev). Allegro alla breve. Maestoso. Con grandezza
Exact Audio Copy V0.99 prebeta 4 from 23. January 2008
EAC extraction logfile from 1. June 2009, 21:20
Various / Mussorgsky; Schippers; Ormandy
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Combined read/write offset correction : 0
Overread into Lead-In and Lead-Out : No
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Delete leading and trailing silent blocks : No
Null samples used in CRC calculations : No
Used interface : Native Win32 interface for Win NT & 2000
Used output format : User Defined Encoder
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Quality : High
Add ID3 tag : No
Command line compressor : C:\Program Files\Exact Audio Copy\FLAC\FLAC.EXE
Additional command line options : -6 -V -T "ARTIST=%a" -T "TITLE=%t" -T "ALBUM=%g" -T "DATE=%y" -T "TRACKNUMBER=%n" -T "GENRE=%m" -T "COMMENT=%e" %s -o %d
TOC of the extracted CD
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Range status and errors
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Filename O:\My Documents\My Music\Mussorgsky\Mussorgsky-London-Schippers-Ormandy.wav
Peak level 100.0 %
Range quality 99.9 %
Copy CRC 3FEB2F83
Copy OK
No errors occurred
End of status report
EAC extraction logfile from 1. June 2009, 21:20
Various / Mussorgsky; Schippers; Ormandy
Used drive : HL-DT-STDVDRAM GSA-4167B Adapter: 3 ID: 0
Read mode : Secure
Utilize accurate stream : Yes
Defeat audio cache : No
Make use of C2 pointers : Yes
Combined read/write offset correction : 0
Overread into Lead-In and Lead-Out : No
Fill up missing offset samples with silence : Yes
Delete leading and trailing silent blocks : No
Null samples used in CRC calculations : No
Used interface : Native Win32 interface for Win NT & 2000
Used output format : User Defined Encoder
Selected bitrate : 768 kBit/s
Quality : High
Add ID3 tag : No
Command line compressor : C:\Program Files\Exact Audio Copy\FLAC\FLAC.EXE
Additional command line options : -6 -V -T "ARTIST=%a" -T "TITLE=%t" -T "ALBUM=%g" -T "DATE=%y" -T "TRACKNUMBER=%n" -T "GENRE=%m" -T "COMMENT=%e" %s -o %d
TOC of the extracted CD
Track | Start | Length | Start sector | End sector
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––-
1 | 0:00.00 | 1:52.68 | 0 | 8467
2 | 1:52.68 | 2:48.72 | 8468 | 21139
3 | 4:41.65 | 3:17.21 | 21140 | 35935
4 | 7:59.11 | 1:28.29 | 35936 | 42564
5 | 9:27.40 | 6:01.28 | 42565 | 69667
6 | 15:28.68 | 1:02.15 | 69668 | 74332
7 | 16:31.08 | 5:52.37 | 74333 | 100769
8 | 22:23.45 | 1:44.66 | 100770 | 108635
9 | 24:08.36 | 3:45.18 | 108636 | 125528
10 | 27:53.54 | 6:33.54 | 125529 | 155057
11 | 34:27.33 | 4:18.74 | 155058 | 174481
12 | 38:46.32 | 1:33.18 | 174482 | 181474
13 | 40:19.50 | 2:37.33 | 181475 | 193282
14 | 42:57.08 | 0:55.07 | 193283 | 197414
15 | 43:52.15 | 4:32.05 | 197415 | 217819
16 | 48:24.20 | 0:31.33 | 217820 | 220177
17 | 48:55.53 | 1:01.25 | 220178 | 224777
18 | 49:57.03 | 2:16.10 | 224778 | 234987
19 | 52:13.13 | 0:42.24 | 234988 | 238161
20 | 52:55.37 | 1:14.21 | 238162 | 243732
21 | 54:09.58 | 2:20.45 | 243733 | 254277
22 | 56:30.28 | 1:25.62 | 254278 | 260714
23 | 57:56.15 | 1:41.05 | 260715 | 268294
24 | 59:37.20 | 1:42.50 | 268295 | 275994
25 | 61:19.70 | 3:43.71 | 275995 | 292790
26 | 65:03.66 | 4:51.67 | 292791 | 314682
Range status and errors
Selected range
Filename O:\My Documents\My Music\Mussorgsky\Mussorgsky-London-Schippers-Ormandy.wav
Peak level 100.0 %
Range quality 99.9 %
Copy CRC 3FEB2F83
Copy OK
No errors occurred
End of status report