[Discografía] Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition

[ShoePac]

Mussorgsky composed the work in commemoration of his friend, the artist and architect Viktor Hartmann, who was only 39 when he suffered an aneurysm and died in 1873. The working title for the suite was Hartmann: "Hartmann is seething as Boris was," Mussorgsky wrote to Stasov in June, 1874. "Sounds and ideas float in the air and my scribbling can hardly keep pace with them."[1] It was probably in 1870, and through the highly influential critic Vladimir Stasov, that Mussorgsky had met Hartmann, whose devotion to the cause of an intrinsically Russian art must have made him a congenial spirit. It was at Stasov’s instigation that a posthumous exhibition of over 400 of the artist’s works was mounted in the Academy of Fine Arts in St Petersburg, in February and March 1874. Pictures at an Exhibition takes the form of an imaginary musical tour around such a collection. Despite his alcoholism, Mussorgsky finished this masterpiece a month and a half after having viewed the tribute to Hartmann. A sufferer of delirium tremens, Mussorgsky would die at age forty-two, just seven years after composing Pictures.

As the pictorial basis for his musical exhibition, Mussorgsky mostly selected drawings and watercolours that Hartmann had produced during his travels abroad. Sadly, we cannot in all cases be certain which Hartmann work Mussorgsky was alluding to, because not all the paintings and drawings have survived. In an article in The Musical Quarterly in 1939, Alfred Frankenstein claimed to have identified seven pictures by catalogue number of the eleven: Two Jews: Rich, and Poor (two separate drawings became the source of Samuel Goldenberg und Schmuyle), Gnomus, Tuileries (now lost), Ballet of the Unhatched Chicks, Samuel Goldenberg und Schmuyle, Catacombae, The Hut on Hen’s Legs (Baba Yaga), and The Bogatyr Gates.

Remarkably, Mussorgsky structures the suite in a manner that actually allows him to represent his own progress through the exhibition. This he does by means of the opening Promenade and the four interludes (only the last of which is also labelled "Promenade") that are clear variations of its material: "My physiognomy can be seen in the interludes," he wrote in a letter to Stasov. More remarkable still, however, is the fact that by the end of the work the Promenade theme has stopped functioning as a merely linking device and instead started to appear within the actual "pictures" themselves: The theme features prominently in the movements Cum mortuis in lingua mortua and The Bogatyr Gates, mysterious in one, celebratory in the other.





Original version/Orchestral version


Artist: Vladimir Ashkenazy, Philharmonia Orchestra
CD title: Mussorgsky – Pictures at an Exhibition
Release date: 1986
Label : Decca
Catalog #: 414 386-2
Number of Discs: 1
Genre: Classical
Type: MP3 format sound
Quality: 192-320 Kbit
Time: 01:06:36

Tracklisting: Pictures At An Exhibition - Original Piano Version
1. Promenade - Gnomus (4:06)
2. Promenade - Il Vecchio Castello (5:11)
3. Promenade - Tuileries - Bydlo (3:38)
4. Promenade - Ballet Of The Unhatched Chicks - Samuel Goldenberg And Schmuyle (4:12)
5. Promenade - Limoges: Le Marché - Catacombae Cum Mortuis In Lingua Mortua (6:36)
6. The Hut On Hen's Legs (Baba Yaga) - The Great Gate Of Kiev (8:28)
Pictures At An Exhibition - Orchestration By Vladimir Ashkenazy
7. Promenade - Gnomus (4:02)
8. Promenade - Il Vecchio Castello (5:24)
9. Promenade - Tuileries - Bydlo (3:54)
10. Promenade - Ballet Of The Unhatched Chicks - Samuel Goldenberg And Schmuyle (4:33)
11. Promenade - Limoges: Le Marché - Catacombae Cum Mortuis In Lingua Mortua (7:03)
12. The Hut On Hen's Legs (Baba Yaga) - The Great Gate Of Kiev (9:09)


Download:

http://rapidshare.com/files/260757470/C_Pictures_1986_Ashkenazy.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/260761798/C_Pictures_1986_Ashkenazy.part2.rar

Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition
Celibidache, Münchner Philharmoniker


Album : Mussorgky, Tchaikovsky
Composer(s) : Tchaikovsky, Mussorgsky
Performers : Sergiu Celibidache (coductor), Münchner Philharmoniker (Orchestra)
Release date : 1998
Recording date : 1992/1993 (Live)
Label : EMI Classics
Catalog # : 56516
Number of discs : 1
Genre : Classical
Total size : 171 MB
Total time : 01:14:42

Individual track details :
01 - (Applause) .mp3 1:05
02 - Tchaikovsky - 'Romeo and Juliet' Fantasy Overture after Shakespeare .mp3 27:51:00
03 - (Applause) .mp3 1:08
04 - (Applause) .mp3 1:07
05 - Mussorgsky (orch. Ravel) - 'Pictures at an Exhibition' - Promenade .mp3 2:34
06 - I- Gnomus .mp3 3:31
07 - Promenade .mp3 1:29
08 - II- Vecchio Castello .mp3 5:18
09 - Promenade .mp3 0:45
10 - III- Tuileries .mp3 1:18
11 - IV- Bydlo .mp3 3:43
12 - Promenade .mp3 1:09
13 - V- Ballet des petits poussins dans leurs coques .mp3 1:27
14 - VI- Samuel Goldenberg und Schmuyle .mp3 3:01
15 - VII- Limoges- le marché .mp3 1:37
16 - VIII- Catacombae - Sepulchrum Romanum .mp3 2:33
17 - Cum mortuis in lingua mortua .mp3 2:56
18 - IX- La Cabane de Baba-Yaga sur des pattes de poule .mp3 4:22
19 - X- La Grande Porte de Kiev .mp3 6:52
20 - (Applause) .mp3 0:56

@ 192 Kbit/s mp3

Comments:
Live recordings from January 1992 (Tchaikovsky) and September 1993 (Mussorgsky). Performed at the Philharmonie am Gasteig, the Munich Philharmonic's residence which was opened on 10 November 1985.

Download:

http://rapidshare.com/files/260776497/C_Pictures_1998_CelibidMunchPhil__320.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/260779989/C_Pictures_1998_CelibidMunchPhil__320.part2.rar

Alfredo Corral, piano (Argentina)
Obras rusas para piano
Tchaikowski – The Seasons Op. 37bis
Mussorgsky – Pictures at an Exhibition


Artist: Alfredo Corral
CD title: Obras rusas para piano
Release date: 2006
Genre: Classical
Type: MP3 format sound
Quality: 320 Kbit
Time: 01:13:41

Tracklisting:
Tchaikowsky - The Seasons (Op. 37bis)
01. January. By The Fireside, CW 124 (Januar. Am Kamin)
02. February. Shrovetide, CW 125 (Februar. Karneval)
03. March. The Lark's Song, CW 126 (Marz. Lied Der Lerche)
04. April. The Snowdrop Flower, CW 127 (April. Das Schneeglockchen)
05. May. White Nights, CW 128 (Mai Weisse Nachte)
06.J une. Barcarole, CW 129 (Juni. Barkarole)
07. July. The Reaper's Song, CW 130 (Juli. Lied Des Schnitters)
08. August, The Harvest (Scherzo), CW 131 (August. Sie Ernte (Scherzo))
09. September. The Hunt, CW 132 (September. Die Jagd)
10. October. Autumn Song, CW 133 (Oktober. Herbstlied)
11. November. Troika Ride, CW134 (November. Auf Der Troika)
12. December. Christmas. CW 135 (Dezember. Weihnachtszeit)
Mussorgsky – Pictures at an Exhibition
13. Promenade
14. Gnomus - Promenade
15. Il vecchio castello - Promenade
16. Les Tuileries
17. Bydlo - Promenade
18. Ballet Of The Unhatched Chicks
19. Samuel Goldberg und Schmuyle
20. Promenade
21. Limoges - le marché
22. Catacombae
23. Promenade-Cum Mortius in lingua mortua
24. Baba Yaga
25. The Great Gate Of Kiev

About Alfredo Corral:

http://www.alfredocorral.com.ar/curringles.htm

Download:

http://rapidshare.com/files/260786288/C_Pictures_2006_Alfredo__320.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/260789407/C_Pictures_2006_Alfredo__320.part2.rar

Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition
Valéry Afanassiev


Album : Pictures at an Exhibition
Composer(s) : Modest Moussorgsky
Performer : Valéry Afanasiev
Release date : 2003
Recording date : 1991
Label : DENON
Number of discs : 1
Total size : 167 MB
Total time : 01:04:55

Individual track details :
Pictures at an Exhibition
1. Promenade
2. Gnomes
3. Promenade
4. Vecchio Castello
5. Promenade
6. The Tuileries
7. Bydlo
8. Promenade
9. Ballet of the Little Chickens
10. Samuel Goldenberg und Schmuyle
11. Promenade
12. A Market Place in Limoges
13. Catacombae
14. Con mortuis in lingua mortua
15. The Hut of Baba-Yaga
16. The Bahatyr Gate of Kiev
Five Piano Peaces
17. Intermezzo in modo classico
18. Impromptu Passionné
19. La Couturiére
20. Méditation
21. Réverie

@ 320 Kbit/s mp3

This extraordinary pianist studied the piano at the Moscow Conservatory with Emil Gilels and Yakov Zak. After winning the 1970 Reine Elisabeth (Queen Elizabeth) piano competition in Brussels, Afanassiev's international career took off. While touring Belgium, he made the difficult decision to seek political asylum, eventually becoming a Belgian citizen. Afanassiev's chief repertoire is primarily based around the Romantics. His recordings contain music by Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, Schumann, Mussorgsky, Chopin, and others. He also performs in chamber music groups and has played with Gidon Kremer and Mischa Maisky. Afanassiev has also tried his hand at conducting and has modeled his performances around the great conductors Wilhelm Furtwängler, Willem Mengelberg, Otto Klemperer, Bruno Walter, and Hans Knappertsbusch. Afanassiev has a second career as a writer, with a number of novels published and plays based on Modest Mussorgsky's piano cycle Pictures at an Exhibition and Robert Schumann's Kreisleriana to his name. Afanassiev resides in Versailles and concertizes worldwide.
~ "Blue Gene" Tyranny, All Music Guide

Download:

http://rapidshare.com/files/260489614/C_Pictures_2003_Afanassiev__320.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/260492579/C_Pictures_2003_Afanassiev__320.part2.rar

[AmbroseBierce]

Iniciado por ShoePac

Granados Trio
Bilder einer Ausstellung

I posted this one here before.

[ShoePac]

Iniciado por AmbroseBierce

I posted this one here before.

Your links seem to be dead.

[ShoePac]

Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition (Isao Tomita)


Album : Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition (electronicaly created by Isao Tomita)
Composer(s) : Mussorgsky/Tomita
Performer : Isao Tomita
Release date : 1974
Number of discs : 1
Total size : 84,7 MB
Total time : 00:37:02

Tracks :
01. Promenade; Gnomes
02. Promenade; The Old Castle
03. Promenade; Tuileries
04. Bydro
05. Promenade; Ballet of the Chicks in Their Shells
06. Samuel Goldenberg and Schmuyle
07. The Market Place at Limoges
08. Catacombs
09. Con mortuis in lingua mortua
10. The Hut of Baba Yaga
11. The Great Gate at Kiev

@ 320Kbit/s mp3

Two kinds of loud sounds in the natural world have been growing on the earth since time immemorial. One is the roll of thunder, the other the sound of volcanic eruption. Both of them were feared by mankind for many centuries as the anger of God. However even the roll of thunder has been proved to be the sound caused by an electric phenomenon - that is, it is an electronic sound. Volcanic sound, on the other hand, is produced by the eruption, impact and rubbing of the substances involved; later such dynamic sounds were made by tools - hammers, bellows to make fire, etc. With the passage of time some of these tools were gradually transformed into musical instruments. At present the method of blowing, beating, rubbing, etc., are incorporated into many musical instruments in the symphony orchestra.
Electric musical instruments, on the other hand, did not come into existence until the present century. In 1927 Leon Theremin devised the first electric musical instrument, whose pitch was controlled by placing the hand near to or away from its vertical rod. In 1928 Maurice Martenot, a French musician, invented the ondes martenot, which is considered the father of the present music synthesizer.
It has been said that electric sound is not expressive because it is not a natural sound but an artificial one made by a machine. However, I think that natural sound implies the rustle of the leaves by the wind, the murmur of a brook and the sound of the waves beating upon the shore. In pianos, violins, flutes and other instruments the determination of their musical scales and the methods of their resonance are made by the art of mankind, so their sounds are not intrinsically natural but mechanical.
Compared to the traditional instruments with a history of many centuries, electric musical instruments have a history of only 50 years. In addition, their shapes are not yet established, so the player is apt to become disorientated. Players of these instruments equivalent in ability to virtuosos of the piano or violin have not yet appeared. I think we must make more effort to study electric musical instruments for the future.
I have used a great variety of electrical sound producing and controlling devices, as in my previous album Snowflakes are Dancing. I have been encouraged to believe that my efforts have produced music that is truly expressive, evoking the emotions of a high musical experience. It is very rewarding.
- Isao Tomita

Download:

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=CK1652QT

[ShoePac]

Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition
(Kubelik, Chicago Symphony Orchestra)



Album : Pictures at an Exhibition
Composer(s) : Modest Mussorgsky, Béla Bartok
Performers : Rafael Kubelik, Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Release date : 1951
Number of discs : 1
Total size : 135 MB (mp3), 182 MB (APE)
Total time : 00:59:19

Individual track details :
Mussorgsky/Ravel : Pictures at an Exhibition
1. Promenade
2. Gnomus
3. Promenade
4. Il Vecchio Castello
5. Promenade
6. Tuileries
7. Bydlo
8. Promenade
9. Ballet des Poussins dans Leurs Cocques
10. Samuel Goldberg and Schmuyle
11. Limoges - Le Marché
12. Catacomb (Sepulchrum Romanum)
13. Cum Mortuis in Lingua Mortua
14. La Cabane sur des Pattes de Poule
15. La Grande Porte de Kiev
Béla Bartok: Music for Strings, Percussion & Celesta
16. 1. Andante tranquillo
17. 2. Allegro
18. 3. Adagio
19. 4. Allegro molto

@ 320Kbit/s mp3 + APE

What we have here is more than a CD; it's a piece of history. From 1951, Moussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition was the first of Mercury's "Living Presence" recordings. Of course, it's monaural but, oh, what glorious monaural! There is some noise, to be sure, yet I doubt than anyone would notice. One is too busy admiring the sonic illusion, so alive it feels more like real life than most modern stereo. It's practically anticlimactic to say that the performances of both the Moussorgsky and the Bartok, recorded a little later, are as legendary as the sound. For years, these interpretations were the yardsticks by which all other versions of the works were measured. These were, indeed, amazing recordings for their time and, thanks to Mercury's continuing remastering efforts, continue to give pleasure today. What could one do but recommend them?!

mp3:
Download links:

http://rapidshare.com/files/303079250/C_Pictures_1951_KubelikCSO__320.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/303081151/C_Pictures_1951_KubelikCSO__320.part2.rar

APE:

http://rapidshare.com/files/303071576/C_Pictures_1951__Kubelik__CSO__APE.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/303074690/C_Pictures_1951__Kubelik__CSO__APE.part2.rar

[ShoePac]

Kazuhito Yamashita
Pictures at an Exhibition (Mussorgsky)
The Firebird Suite (Strawinsky)



Artist: Kazuhito Yamashita
CD title: Pictures at an Exhibition
Release date: 1999
Number of Discs: 1
Genre: Classical
Type: MP3 format sound
Quality: 224 Kbit
Time: 00:55:11
Total size: 89 MB

Tracks:
Pictures at an Exhibition
1. I Promenade ; Gnomes [00:04:17]
2. II Promenade ; Il Vecchio Castello [00:05:59]
3. III Promenade ; The Tuileries [00:01:26]
4. IV Bydlo [00:02:58]
5. V Promenade ; Ballet of the Little Chickens [00:02:10]
6. VI Samuel Goldenberg und Schmuyle [00:02:29]
7. VII A Market Place in Limoges [00:01:17]
8. VIII Catacombae ; Con mortuis in lingua mortua [00:05:08]
9. IX The Hut of Baba-Yaga [00:03:04]
10. X The Bahatyr Gate of Kiev [00:06:59]
The Firebird Suite
11. I Introduction [00:03:25]
12. II The Firebird and It's Dance [00:00:20]
13. III Variations of the Firebird [00:01:16]
14. IV The Round of the Princesses [00:04:11]
15. V Infernal Dance of King Kastchei [00:04:05]
16. VI Lullaby [00:02:56]
17. VII Finale [00:03:01]

Background information:
Just as Franz Liszt created new repertoire and technique for the piano by transcribing Symphonies and Operas and then developing new techniques with which to play them, Kazuhito Yamashita took a similar path in the early 1980's and so revolutionised the world of possibilities on the guitar.

By transcribing well known pieces of orchestral music for solo guitar he has encouraged a trend which could make classical guitar much more appealing and accessible to concert programmers and the general concert going audience.

Download:

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=WGW5YOGL

[ShoePac]

Byron Janis Plays Moussorgsky
Pictures At An Exhibition


Release Date: 09/20/1994
Label: Mercury Living Presence
Catalog #: 434346
Composer: Modest Mussorgsky, Frédéric Chopin
Performer: Byron Janis
Conductor: Antal Doráti
Orchestra/Ensemble:[/b] Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra
Number of Discs: 1
Recorded in: Stereo
Length: 01:06:11

Individual Track Details:

1. Pictures at an exhibition by Modest Mussorgsky
Performer: Byron Janis (Piano)
Period: Romantic
Written: 1874; Russia
Date of Recording: 09/1961
Venue: Ballroom Studio A, Fine Recording, NY
Length: 29 Minutes 35 Secs.


2. Etudes (12) for Piano, Op. 25: no 3 in F major by Frédéric Chopin
Performer: Byron Janis (Piano)
Period: Romantic
Written: 1836; Paris, France
Date of Recording: 06/07/1962
Venue: Moscow, Russia
Length: 1 Minutes 37 Secs.


3. Waltzes (3) for Piano, Op. 34: no 2 in A minor, B 64 by Frédéric Chopin
Performer: Byron Janis (Piano)
Period: Romantic
Written: 1831; Poland
Date of Recording: 06/07/1962
Venue: Moscow, Russia
Length: 4 Minutes 50 Secs.


4. Pictures at an exhibition by Modest Mussorgsky
Conductor: Antal Doráti
Orchestra/Ensemble: Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra
Period: Romantic
Written: 1874; Russia
Date of Recording: 04/21/1959
Venue: Northrop Auditorium, Minneapolis, MN
Length: 29 Minutes 7 Secs.
Notes: Arranger: Maurice Ravel.

@VBR mp3

Download:

http://rapidshare.com/files/260652374/C_Pictures_1994_ByJan.rar

[ShoePac]

Mekong Delta
Pictures at an Exhibition (Mussorgsky)


Artist: Mekong Delta
CD title: Pictures at an Exhibition
Release date: 1996
Number of Discs: 1
Genre: Metal
Type: MP3 format sound
Quality: 192 Kbit
Time: 01:11:22
Total size: 98 MB

Tracks:
1 [17] Promenade
2 [18] Gnomus
3 [19] Interludium
4 [20] Il vecchio castello
5 [21] Interludium
6 [22] Tuileries (Dispute d'enfants apres jeux)
7 [23] Bydtlo
8 [24] Interludium
9 [25] Ballet of the unhatched chicks
10 [26] 'Samuel' Goldenberg and 'Schmuyle'
11 [27] Promenade
12 [28] Limoges: Le marché (La grande nouvelle)
13 [29] Catacombae (Sepulcrum romanum)
14 [30] Lingua mortis
15 [31] The hut on chicken's legs
16 [32] The heroic gate (in the old capital of Kiev

Unbracketed numerals refer to the group version
Bracketed numerals refer to the group plus orchestra version
Pictures At An Exhibition was composed for piano in 1874 by Modest Mussorgski.
Arranged for group and orchestra by Ralph Hubert & Uwe Baltrusch

Where it all began...
The line-up and the history of german band Mekong Delta was to be the best kept secret in the world. At the end of '85 an idea was born to start a studio project with german metal musicians. It was suppost to outshine all independent releases musically. The thought that german musicians would not be accepted, made the people of the project decide to keep everything about the band a secret. The name Zardoz was rejected followed by the acceptance of the name "Mekong Delta", named after a riverbed in Vietnam. The entire project was started by Ralf Hubert, sound-engineer of Warlock, Steeler and Living Death, and owner of the recordlabel "Aaarrg". The first demo's are recorded with the following line-up:

Jochen Schröder (ex-Rage) on guitar
Peavy Wagner (Rage) on bass
Jörg Michael (ex-Rage and Paganini) on drums
Wolfgang Borgmann on vocals



Download:

http://rapidshare.com/files/266712779/C_Pictures_1997_Mekong__192.rar

[ShoePac]

Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition
(Simon Rattle, Berliner Phil.)



Album : Pictures at an Exhibition
Composer(s) : Mussorgsky, Borodin
Performer : Simon Rattle, Berliner Philharmoniker
Release date : 2008
Label : EMI Classics
Number of discs : 1
Total size : 102 MB
Total time : 01:14:21

Individual track details :
Modest Mussorgsky 1839-1881 orch. Maurice Ravel
Pictures at an Exhibition
1. Promenade
2. 1. The Gnome/Gnomus
3. Promenade
4. 2. The Old Castle/Il vecchio castello
5. Promenade
6. 3. The Tuileries/Tuileries
7. 4. The Ox Cart/Bydlo
8. Promenade
9. 5. Ballet of the Unhatched Chicks/Ballet des pouissins dans leurs coques
10. 6. Samule Goldenberg & Schmuÿle
11. 7. The marketplace in Limoges/ Limoges - Le Marché
12. 8. The Catacombs/Catacombae Sepulcrum Romanum
13. Cum mortuis in lingua mortua
14. 9.The Hut on Fowl's Legs (Baba-Yaga)/La Cabane sur des pattes de poule
15. 10. The Great Gate of Kiev/La grande porte de Kiev

Alexander Borodin 1833-1887
Symphony No.2 in B minor
16. Allegro
17. Scherzo: Prestissimo-Allegretto
18. Andante
19. Finale: Allegro

20. Polovetsian Dances (from Prince Igor)

@ 192 Kbit/s mp3

This release is a live recording of concerts given in Berlin between 29 and 31 December 2007 and is in many ways a typical Simon Rattle affair: the main work on the CD – i.e. the one on which it is sold – is contrasted with a lesser-known work, and the conductor sheds far more light on the more obscure piece than the warhorse. The album's cover has us believe we're buying a recording of Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition, to which is added Borodin's Second Symphony as a filler, but the performance of the Borodin is ten times more compelling than that of the Mussorgsky.

Download:

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=HAR4I400
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=3E7DW8T5

[ShoePac]

Emerson, Lake & Palmer
Pictures at an Exhibition [LIVE]


Label: Cotillon/Atlantic
Catalog #: 7567-81521-2
Composer: Modest Mussorgsky
Performer: Emerson, Lake & Palmer
Number of Discs: 1
Date of release: 1972
Duration: 00:37:47
Total size: 52,5 MB

Individual Track Details:
01. Promenade.mp3
02. The Gnome.mp3
03. Promenade.mp3
04. The Sage.mp3
05. The Old Castle.mp3
06. Blues Variations.mp3
07. Promenade.mp3
08. The Hut Of Baba Yaga.mp3
09. The Curse Of Baba Yaga.mp3
10. The Hut Of Baba Yaga.mp3
11. The Great Gates Of Kiev.mp3
12. The End.mp3
13. Nutrocker.mp3

@VBR mp3

Recorded live at the City Hall in Newcastle, England in 1971, Pictures at an Exhibition was ELP’s first live release and, taken as a whole, it pretty much rocks. For the most part an “interpretation” of parts of Mussorgsky’s piano suite of the same name, it begins with “Promenade”, played not on wacky Keith Emerson’s Moog, nor on his Hammond organ, but on the City Hall’s own, 40-year old pipe organ. As in the Mussorgsky original, the “Promenade” theme repeats throughout ELP’s performance, intended to give an impression of a man wandering through an imagined exhibition of the works of the composer’s friend, Viktor Hartmann. Following on from this stately introduction, “The Gnome” is one of the bizarre time-signature-changing synth-orgies that represent ELP at their best. Jazz and something a little like rock in a curious con-fusion.
Sadly, the next movement of “Promenade” presents precisely the other side of ELP. Mussorgky’s anthem is treated to a coating of Greg Lake’s endless portentous lyrics. Truthfully, Lake had a great voice, but largely wasted it on nursery rhymes he seemed to believe held the secret of life, the universe, and that other thing: “My life’s course is guided, decided by limits drawn on charts of my past ways and pathways since I was born.”
“The Sage” delays us further in Lake’s fantasy world. Accompanying himself on acoustic guitar, he sings to us tenderly about the very special universal truths that only a former member of King Crimson could possibly understand. Like how time is a river and we’re all stardust. Or golden. Or something. I forget which. Frankly, I fell asleep halfway through.
However, the distorted synth whine and wail of the introduction to “The Old Castle” would be enough to wake the dead. On Venus. A full-on rocker, “The Old Castle” eventually segues into a “Blues Variation” on the same theme. These near-seven minutes of frantic polyrhythms and heads-down no-nonsense muso boogie are followed by a third “Promenade”. This one is all about the rawk, and for the first time Carl Palmer’s drums are pushed to the fore, setting the scene for the frenzy that’s to come. And as a final emphatic chord disappears on a drum roll, Emerson and Palmer urge in the marvellous “The Hut of Baba Yaga”. Again, this is the stuff that counts. It might be jazz, it might be rock, it could be a haddock, but now as then, it’s powerful, unique, and quite stunningly passionate. “The Curse of Baba Yaga” continues the theme, slowing the tempo to allow Keith Emerson to coax otherworldy howls out of his keyboards before the bass swells, the drums rap his knuckles, and we’re off again into the overdriven weird, finally to lose control and break into a thunderous, punk rock raw, reprise of “The Hut of Baba Yaga” taken roughly half as fast again as the original. Sadly, the finale, the musically dark and haunting “Great Gates of Kiev/The End” is spoiled by yet more of Lake’s tiresome poetry: “There’s no end to my life, no beginning to my death / Death is life”. Ho hum.
In many ways, Pictures at an Exhibition is the poster child for both the best and worst of Emerson Lake and Palmer. For every “Karn Evil 9” or “Baba Yaga”, you have to listen to an awful lot of hollow nonsense and witless balladry; but when the trio get their bombast and excess right, they get it absolutely right.
--Roger Holland (PopMatters)

Download:

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=F4K15E06