Modest Mussorgsky - Pictures at an Exhibition (Byron Janis; Antal Doráti)

Information

• Moussorgsky - Pictures at an Exhibition
• Chopin - 12 Etudes, Op. 25: No. 3 in F major
• Chopin - Waltz No. 3 in A minor, Op. 34 No. 2
• Mussorgsky - Pictures at an Exhibition (orch. Maurice Ravel)

Byron Janis, piano

Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra

Antal Doráti, conductor

Date: 1961; 1959

Label: Mercury

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Review

A lovely idea. The piano and the orchestral versions of Pictures, separated by some aural balm, a couple of short Chopin pieces, expertly dispatched. Wonderful, also, to experience again the art of Byron Janis. A Horowitz pupil, he was a major pianist for a while, as his Rachmaninov in this same series reminded us.

Janis's Pictures begin hewn out of granite. The piano sound is up-front and best described as 'pingy' - it can even be harsh at times. There is a slight dryness too to the recording that mirrors Janis's own playing; try especially 'Tuileries' and its neighbour, 'Bydlo'. His pedalling is sparse, leaving one to gasp at his finger strength and his accuracy. Yet he can create velvet sonorities when he wants ('Gnomus') and contrasting delicacy (the 'middle' Promenade; track 8 here). Sparks fly off his accents in the Limoges market-place; interestingly, the chattering of the old women here seems to have a somewhat malicious intent. One can hear the metallic 'clang' of the piano's lower strings in 'Goldberg and Schmuyle' – the latter seem to lead to the grinding dissonances of 'The hut on Fowl's Legs'. Unfortunately, despite lovely, round, balanced chording at the beginning of 'The Great Gate', this concluding picture does not act as a culmination of what preceded it. For that - and for an edge-of-the-seat ride all round - one needs to go to Richter's 1958 Sofia performance on Philips 50 464 734-2. The Janis is a performance of niceties, of acutely judged nuances set against occasional showers of sparks.

The two Chopin items act as a wonderful resting point and contain some of Janis's best playing, particularly the wonderfully suave Waltz; what gorgeous shading of line there is here!

The orchestral Pictures is sonically fascinating. If the opening trumpet is rather tinny, just listen to the depth and luxuriance of the strings! 'Up-front' is again the term that comes to mind with the recording, but here it seems to work better – one can hear how much the lower strings dig in to their fast figures that launch 'Gnomus'. Woodwind chase each other infectiously in the 'Tuileries', and everyone is on fantastic form for the 'Ballet of the Chicks'. But if it is hi-fi demonstration you are after, that Hut on Fowl's Legs is keen to oblige, as is the - here positively climactic - Great Gate.

A very interesting disc indeed.

-- Colin Clarke

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Modest Mussorgsky (21 March 1839 – 28 March 1881) is a Russian composer. Composing without training in his teens, he met several composers, with whom he later made up The Five, and received his first composition lessons from Mily Balakirev in 1857. His major works include the symphonic poem Night on Bald Mountain (1867), the great opera Boris Godunov (1868), and the famous piano cycle Pictures at an Exhibition (1874). His 65 songs describe vivid scenes of Russian life. After Mussorgsky’s death, his works were published in drastically edited form, purged of their distinctive starkness and unorthodox harmonies.

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Byron Janis (March 24, 1928 – March 14, 2024) was an American classical pianist. He was a student of Josef and Rosina Lhévinne, Adele Marcus and Vladimir Horowitz. He was invited six times by four sitting Presidents to perform at the White House. Janis was also a composer and wrote music for musical theater and television shows. He made numerous recordings for RCA Victor and Mercury Records, and occupies two volumes of the Philips series Great Pianists of the 20th Century. His discography included major piano concertos from Mozart to Rachmaninoff and Liszt to Prokofiev.

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Antal Doráti (9 April 1906 – 13 November 1988) was a Hungarian-born American conductor. He was a student of Bartók, Kodály and Leó Weiner at the Liszt Academy. Doráti made his American debut in 1937 and was music director of the American Ballet Theater from 1941 to 1945. He went on to conduct the Dallas Symphony (1945–49), Minneapolis Symphony (1949–60), BBC Symphony (1963–66), Stockholm Philharmonic (1966–70), Washington National Symphony (1970–77), Royal Philharmonic (1975–78), and Detroit Symphony (1977–81). Over the course of his career he made over 600 recordings for various labels.

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