Nikolaï Demidenko - Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition - Prokofiev: 10 Pieces from Romeo & Juliet (1998)

Tracklist

01. Pictures at an Exhibition: Promenade 1
02. Pictures at an Exhibition: I. Gnomus
03. Pictures at an Exhibition: Promenade 2
04. Pictures at an Exhibition: II. Il castello vecchio "The Old Castle"
05. Pictures at an Exhibition: Promenade 3
06. Pictures at an Exhibition: III. Tuileries
07. Pictures at an Exhibition: IV. Bydlo "The Oxcart"
08. Pictures at an Exhibition: Promenade 4
09. Pictures at an Exhibition: V. Ballet of the Chickens in Their Shells
10. Pictures at an Exhibition: VI. Samuel Goldenberg and Schmuÿle
11. Pictures at an Exhibition: Promenade 5
12. Pictures at an Exhibition: VII. The Market at Limoges
13. Pictures at an Exhibition: VIIIa. Catacombae "Sepulcrum romanum"
14. Pictures at an Exhibition: VIIIb. Cum mortuis in lingua mortua
15. Pictures at an Exhibition: IX. The Hut on Fowl's Legs "Baba-Yaga"
16. Pictures at an Exhibition: X. The Great Gates of Kyiv
17. 10 Pieces for Piano from "Romeo and Juliet", Op. 75: No. 1, Folk Dance
18. 10 Pieces for Piano from "Romeo and Juliet", Op. 75: No. 2, Scene. The Street Awakens
19. 10 Pieces for Piano from "Romeo and Juliet", Op. 75: No. 3, Minuet. Arrival of the Guests
20. 10 Pieces for Piano from "Romeo and Juliet", Op. 75: No. 4, Juliet as a Young Girl
21. 10 Pieces for Piano from "Romeo and Juliet", Op. 75: No. 5, Masks
22. 10 Pieces for Piano from "Romeo and Juliet", Op. 75: No. 6, Montagues and Capulets "Dance of the Knights"
23. 10 Pieces for Piano from "Romeo and Juliet", Op. 75: No. 7, Friar Laurence
24. 10 Pieces for Piano from "Romeo and Juliet", Op. 75: No. 8, Mercutio
25. 10 Pieces for Piano from "Romeo and Juliet", Op. 75: No. 9, Dance of the Girls with Lilies
26. 10 Pieces for Piano from "Romeo and Juliet", Op. 75: No. 10, Romeo and Juliet Before Parting
27. Toccata, Op. 11

Musorgsky's musical tribute to the painter and architect Viktor Hartmann has become his most familiar work, and this recording presents the original piano version of Pictures from an Exhibition. It is an extraordinary work, combining intense demands for virtuoso technique with an inexorable momentum which keeps what is fundamentally an impressionistic work in many movements moving towards its grand climax with the 'Great Gate of Kiev' finale.

Prokofiev is one of those composers who would constantly reuse material from one work in another. However, although the Ten Pieces from Romeo and Juliet may seem at first glance to be merely a medley gleaned from the more famous ballet, it should not be forgotten that Prokofiev published the set independently and that it was first performed the year before the finished ballet, perhaps by way of an advertisement for the more challenging (financially, at least) work to follow.

Also included here is Prokofiev's Toccata, written in 1912 while he was at the St Petersburg Conservatoire. The work was possibly conceived as a movement of the Second Piano Sonata, but Prokofiev evidently decided the work was worthy of publication in its own right.

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