Possible Editing Problem
Mark Milberg | Toronto, Canada | 03/18/2005
(2 out of 5 stars)
"There's no point debating whether or not this is the best performance by Richter of Pictures at an Exhibition. I think it is, others think the live Sofia account is better, no one is right or wrong.
What should be pointed out is that the sound on this recording is much, much better than on either of the other currently available accounts of Pictures by Richter, largely because it's a studio recording. The live Sofia, account, of course, is in notoriously bad sound, even for its era, so even if you love the performance, you are frustrated by the sound. The live BBC Legends recording really does sound like a radio recording (so better than the Sofia but worse than this one), but Richter's performance for the BBC lacks all of his usual subtlety, and so, ruins the performance for me.
So, this recording is the only example of Richter playing Pictures at an Exhibition well in equally good sound.
Having said all of that, the CD I received when I ordered this had the last few seconds lopped off many of the tracks, so instead of Baba Yaga flowing into Kiev, Baba Yaga ends suddenly, a few bars are missing and there are a few seconds of frustrating silence and then Kiev begins. It ruins the performance, obviously, and if you owned this version on LP, none of those gaps existed. This might mean there's a problem with the pressing of all of the Mussorgsky/Richter CDs, or perhaps I got truly unlucky."
Beware with this recording!
Hiram Gomez Pardo | Valencia, Venezuela | 12/05/2005
(1 out of 5 stars)
"Richter does his best for elevate the status to one of the most reiterative Piano Sonatas ever written. You can feel the lack of muse in Tchaikovsky. Banal, anodyne, non transcendent and sincerely boring.
But the worst is yet to come. It is unbelievable how the sound Engineers and the Edition Personal did not check the inexcusable cuts along the different episodes of the Pictures.
I bought this record with the naïve presumption of suppose the tracks were complete but you know ; there is always new under the sun.
All those acquired this CD should return and expect not only the most sincere excuses but sending us a new album with the required conditions, but I am afraid this expected hope will not be possible to satisfy.
"