Russian Masterpieces

Conductor - Andrew Litton
Piano - Natasha Paremski
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

MUSSORGSKY, orch. RIMSKY-KORSAKOV Night on the Bare Mountain

TCHAIKOVSKY Piano Concerto No.1

SHOSTAKOVICH Symphony No.5

A feast of Russian music, opening with Mussorgsky’s thrilling Night on the Bare Mountain – a depiction of the Witches’ Sabbath that brims with magic and mischief. Mussorgsky described the piece to his friend Rimsky-Korsakov, who completed the orchestration: 'The form and character of my work are Russian and original...hot-blooded and disordered.' Shostakovich came under fire for his own hot-blooded and disordered music, which attacked the Russian regime. In the Fifth Symphony, he toned down this style, finding new, subtle ways of satirising the state. These fascinating works frame Tchaikovsky’s First Piano Concerto, which boasts one of the most famous of all opening themes.

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