Information
Composer: Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky; Modest Mussorgsky; Alexander Borodin
- Tchaikovsky - 1812 Overture, Op. 49
- Mussorgsky - Night on the Bare Mountain (orch. Leopold Stokowski)
- Borodin - Prince Igor, opera: Polovtsian Dances
- Mussorgsky - Boris Godunov (Symphonic Synthesis by Leopold Stokowski)
- Tchaikovsky - March slave, Op. 31
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
London Symphony Orchestra
Orchestre de la Suisse Romande
Leopold Stokowski, conductor
Date: 1969; 1967; 1968
Label: Decca
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Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Romantic Russian composer. He was the first Russian composer whose music would make a lasting impression internationally. Tchaikovsky wrote some of the most popular concert and theatrical music in the current classical repertoire, including the ballets Swan Lake and The Nutcracker, the 1812 Overture, his First Piano Concerto, Violin Concerto, the Romeo and Juliet Overture-Fantasy, several symphonies, and the opera Eugene Onegin. Despite his many popular successes, Tchaikovsky's life was punctuated by personal crises and depression.
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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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Alexander Borodin (12 November 1833 – 27 February 1887) was a Romantic composer and chemist of Georgian-Russian extraction. A member of "The Five," a group of composers dedicated to creating a distinctly Russian style of music, Borodin is known best for his symphonies, string quartets, In the Steppes of Central Asia and his opera Prince Igor. Although Borodin was a highly talented composer, he worked as a chemist for most of his life, being particularly noted for his work on aldehydes. His music, rich in folk melodies and emotional depth, has endured as a key part of the Russian classical tradition.
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Leopold Stokowski (18 April 1882 – 13 September 1977) was a British-born American conductor known for his flamboyant showmanship, the rich sonorities of his orchestras, and his influence as a popularizer of classical music. Stokowski gained an international reputation as musical director of the Philadelphia Orchestra from 1912 to 1936. He directed the New York Philharmonic from 1946 to 1950 and the Houston Symphony from 1955 to 1962; in 1962 he formed the American Symphony Orchestra in New York City. Stokowski made three films with the Philadelphia Orchestra, including Walt Disney’s Fantasia (1940).
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