Mussorgsky and Tchaikovsky by Tchaikovsky, P. I., Mussorgsky, Od (2023/2023), Dirigent Giuseppe Mengoli, BBC Philharmonic Studio, Salford, United Kingdom

Today we hear from two very different, but equally brilliant, Russian composers of the Romantic period born within 18 months of each other, with conductor Giuseppe Mengoli and cellist Anastasia Kobekina. “You are quite right to call Mussorgsky a hopeless case,” said Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky of Modest Mussorgsky in a letter to his patron in 1877, “and yet he does sometimes have flashes of real talent, and, moreover, not without originality...he does speak to us in a new language. It may not be beautiful, but it is fresh.” Tchaikovsky seems to have had mixed feelings about his peer, and yet, there was room for both their talents, as we hear today. In his childhood, Mussorgsky was captivated by fairy tales which stirred in him an early love of folklore. His compositions all pulse with the natural rhythms, melodies and harmonies of Slavonic folk music. Today we hear one of Mussorgsky’s most celebrated works, Pictures at an Exhibition, composed on a swift and productive wave of inspiration in 1874. A promenade theme throughout the piece depicts a ‘tour’ round a gallery of paintings by his dear friend, the artist Viktor Hartmann, following his sudden death in the previous year. French composer Maurice Ravel arranged the work in 1922 and it is this version we hear today. Ravel was not the first or the last to orchestrate the Pictures but his is seen as a model of technical brilliance and concern for Mussorgsky’s vision. Tchaikovsky may not have had glowing praise for Mussorgsky, but he adored Mozart. Tchaikovsky’s splendid Variations on a Rococo Theme are full of subtle homages to his Classical-era hero, but equally, Tchaikovsky was no copycat; the theme on which his Variations were based was an entirely original one, in the Rococo style. This was Tchaikovsky’s first composition for cello and orchestra, written between December 1876 and January 1877 and it premiered that November. We hear the work today nearly 146 years later, with the remarkable Anastasia Kobekina as soloist.