Mussorgsky Pictures At An Exhibition Prokofiev Sarcasms Op 17 Visions Fugitives
Osborne Steven
Mussorgsky Pictures At An Exhibition Prokofiev Sarcasms Op 17 Visions Fugitives
Osborne Steven
ABC Classic FM CD of the Week: 26th of November\n2012
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Steven Osborne has become one of the most valuable pianists\nrecording today. His recent complete Rachmaninov Preludes release\nwas critically acclaimed as the greatest modern version since\nAshkenazy. Now he turns to further cornerstones of the Russian\nrepertoire in this recording of Musorgsky’s Pictures from an\nExhibition (a work which has been in Osborne’s concert repertoire\nfor many years), and two sets of Prokofiev’s miniatures.
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Musorgsky’s masterpiece is one of the most popular programmatic\nworks of the 19th century. Yet it is also a great pianistic\nchallenge, with the spectacular textures of the climactic movement\n‘The Great Gate of Kiev’ requiring the highest technical\naccomplishments.
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David Fanning writes of Prokofiev’s Visions fugitives:\n‘Prokofiev supplies snapshots of his most characteristic\nmoods—sometimes grotesque, sometimes incantatory and mystical,\nsometimes simply poetic, sometimes aggressively assertive,\nsometimes so delicately poised as to allow the performer and the\nlistener to make up their own minds.’ Osborne’s subtle, yet\nbrilliant use of colour and characterization makes him the ideal\nperformer of this set. Sarcasms—as befits the title—is an\nexperimental, provocative work, performed by Osborne with biting\nhumour.
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Review
Kate Rockstrom
As someone who is more familiar with the orchestrated version of Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition it was very interesting listening to the original piano version. Very virtuosic in style, it’s a fascinating insight in the ideas of Ravel, who orchestrated it and Mussorgsky as to what his original intentions were. Following on from that are the Prokofiev Five Sarcasms and Visions Fugitives, which are virtuosic to say the least. Osborne delightfully trips his way around the keyboard in the Allegro movements and feels restrained in the slower movements but is never really slow so keeps a momentum throughout the entire album.
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