Product Details

• Actors: M. Mussorgsky
• Directors: Mussorgsky
• Format: Color, DVD, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Kultur White Star
• DVD Release Date: February 26, 2008
• Run Time: 24 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B0010X5J7U
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #154,713 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)

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  Movies & TV > Musicals & Performing Arts > Classical > By Composer > Mussorgsky, Modeste

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
These informative biographies present a revealing look into the events, people and places that influenced the creation of the composer s major works and tell the story of the impact that Russia had on the history of western music.

Modest Mussorgsky was the most original and influential of the 19th century Russian nationalist composers.

Mussorgsky was born on March 21, 1839 in Karevo, Russia. He was educated privately and at a military academy in St. Petersburg. In 1952 he entered the School for Cadets of the Guard and composed his first musical works.

During the winter of 1856, a regimental comrade introduced Mussorgsky to the Russian nationalist composer Mikhail Glinka, and this inspired his own nationalistic spirit. Upon visiting the Kremlin he was to say, "To bring the past into the present - that is my task!" In 1858 he resigned from military service to devote himself to music; after 1863 he supported himself as a government clerk. Musically, Mussorgsky was self-taught. His songs, among the finest of the 19th century, reflect his desire to reproduce the rhythms of Russian speech. So also does his masterpiece, the opera Boris Godunov (1868). Mussorgsky's other major works include the piano suite Pictures at an Exhibition (1874), orchestrated in 1922 by the French composer Maurice Ravel, the symphonic poem Night on Bare Mountain (1867) and the unfinished opera Kovanshchina, completed by Rimsky-Korsakov.

In spite of the success of his works, Mussorgsky was not happy. Totally neglected by his former friends, he departed on a lengthy concert tour of southern Russia. Upon his return he tried teaching in St. Petersburg. He died on March 28, 1881 while working on the opera Sorochintsy Fair.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2.0 out of 5 stars Very limited, April 14, 2009

By	WestSider851 (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

This was a rather disappointing biographical survey of Modest Mussorgsky's life. I purchased this DVD to use with one of my classes as an introduction to his life, and in our discussion of some of his work like "Pictures". Having spent a good deal of time reading up on the composer, I was disappointed in the lack of detail of this DVD. Although it hits major points like the Balakirev circle, and the nationalist aspect of his career, it leaves out very important musical works and personalities. The only two musical examples heard on the DVD come from "Boris" and the promenade theme from "Pictures". Mussorgsky wrote a great deal more than this! Also, I was not impressed with the video footage used. Most of the time, all that is shot are images of Russian forests. Perhaps they could've showed an orchestra playing one of his pieces, maybe places that Mussorgsky lived or theaters his works were played in. This was just a disappointing, limited film. I had intended to buy the other ones in the Great Russian Composers series, but I think I shall stop here.

3.0 out of 5 stars Modest the Composer (and Lush), March 11, 2008

By	Jeffery Mingo (Homewood, IL USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Knowledge is power. I didn't know anything about Modest or his music, but this was a quick, easy way to learn something.

American authors often speak about writing "The Great American Novel," but many audiences often forget how important national issues are to artists. This work says Modest was very interested in reflecting and promoting Russia. In the same way that Frida and Diego Rivera were miscegenated artists with financial resources how strongly identified with indigenous folk, Modest was raised in a wealthy home and seemed interested in the former serfs. In the same way that Schubert was a composer who died young due to syphilis, Modest died young due to alcoholism. This work never mentions if he was married and I wondered if he had a rainbow flag persona like Russian composer Tchaikovsky. Though he worked pre-Lenin, the work mentions that the Russian government censored or condemned some of his work as seditious. The work shows Modest in a drunken state and it almost reminded me of a frozen Jack Nicholson in "The Shining."

This documentary starts off really dull. Later, you see more minarets and fur caps. There seem to be clips of Russian performances that I imagine were filmed in the 1970s. The work tries to showcase the music and biographical facts equally.