Product Details

• Actors: n, a
• Directors: n, a
• Format: Surround Sound
• Language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: G (General Audience)
• Studio: Surround Records
• DVD Release Date: July 26, 2008
• Run Time: 77 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B001BHTVVK
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #186,691 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Review

The art of transcription tends to receive less respect than it deserves, and no one did more in the 20th century to earn respect in this field than the conductor Leopold Stokowski. His orchestral arrangements of Bach -- most famously for Disney's Fantasia -- exposed that composer's music to countless new listeners, and his versions of works by Modest Mussorgsky were almost equally significant. Stokowski's transcription of Pictures at an Exhibition will likely always fall in the shadow of Maurice Ravel's brilliant orchestration of Mussorgsky's piano score, yet it's a very impressive piece of work, hewing closer to a dark and typically Russian sound. If some of Ravel's piquant details are missed -- the opening trumpet solo, the saxophone in 'The Old Castle' -- there are just as many moments where the advantage goes to Stokowski, not least in the powerful strains of'The Great Gate of Kiev' which sounds quite close to the world of Boris Godunov in this version. Speaking of that operatic masterpiece, Stokowski's' symphonic synthesis' of its themes makes for the most gripping listening on this disc; condensing key moments into a commanding 25-minute arch, it conveys both the opera's dramatic majesty and tragedy. Stokowski's Night on Bare Mountain (the version used in Fantasia) gives free rein to suitably creepy orchestral effects, and his Entr'acte from Mussorgsky's Khovanshchina is as somber and moving as one could wish. These transcriptions also appeared recently on another fine disc, conducted by Oliver Knussen, but the survey here by José Serebrier (a Stokowski protégé) with the Bournemouth Symphony easily matches it; and at a budget price, with the bonus additions of two brief Tchaikovsky transcriptions and Stokowski's arrangement of Slavic Christmas melodies, this release clearly has the edge.

Album works:

St. John's Night on the Bare Mountain (Ivanova noch' na Lisoy gore), symphonic poem for orchestra,
Composed by Modest Mussorgsky
Performed by Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra
Conducted by Jose Serebrier


Khovanshchina, opera in 5 acts, edited by Rimsky-Korsakov Act IV. Entr'acte
Composed by Modest Mussorgsky
Performed by Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra
Conducted by Jose Serebrier


Symphonic Synthesis on 'Boris Godunov', for orchestra (after Mussorgsky)
Composed by Leopold Stokowski
Performed by Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra
Conducted by Jose Serebrier


Pictures at an Exhibition (Kartinki s vïstavski), for orchestra, orchestrations other than Ravel's
Composed by Modest Mussorgsky
Performed by Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra
Conducted by Jose Serebrier


Morceaux (2) for piano (or piano & violin), Op. 10 No. 2. Humorseque
Composed by Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky
Performed by Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra
Conducted by Jose Serebrier


Solitude (Again, as before, alone), song for voice & piano, Op. 73/6
Composed by Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky
Performed by Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra
Conducted by Jose Serebrier


Traditional Slavic Christmas Music, for string & brass choirs
Composed by Leopold Stokowski
Performed by Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra
Conducted by Jose Serebrier

Recorded at the Lighthouse, Poole, UK, from 21st to 23rd September, 2004 at 24 bit High Definition Audio. --Surround Records

Product Description

THIS DTS-HD MASTER AUDIO DISC DELIVERS AN AMAZING ACOUSTIC REALITY EXPERIENCE THROUGH ANY BLU-RAY (PS3) PLAYER WITH AN HDMI 1.3 OR OPTICAL (core only 5.1 and 6.1) OUTPUT CONNECTED OR ASSEMBLED WITH DTS-HD MASTER AUDIO OR DTS (core only 5.1 and 6.1) CAPABLE RECEIVER THE FULL RANGE 7.1 (6.1;5.1) SURROUND SPEAKER SET-UP IS HIGHLY RECOMMENDED FOR FULL PERCEPTION OF ACOUSTIC REALITY AND LOW FREQUENCY CHANNEL (LFE) THAT IS VERY CRITICAL FOR THIS RECORD. PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS RECORD WAS ORIGINALLY PRODUCED FOR 5.1 AND PRESENTED FOR 7.1 SURROUND SOUND REPRODUCTION TO PROVIDE YOU WITH UNIQUE ACOUSTIC REALITY EXPERIENCE.

This Disc is Audio Only

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Mussorgsky: "Pictures" - Classical Music As It Should Be Experienced!, January 14, 2009

By 

Rose Kish - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: MUSSORGSKY: Pictures at an Exhibition / Boris Godunov/ Night on Bare Mountain (Stokowski Transcriptions) - Acoustic Reality Experience [7.1 DTS-HD Master Audio Disc] [Blu-ray] (Blu-ray)

All I can say is...SPECTACULAR!

A wonderful combination of sterling dynamic range and multichannel surround sound. THIS is the way that classical music was meant to be enjoyed.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

Richard Kish
Beacon, NY

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding title., April 8, 2009

By 

Pure Francis - See all my reviews

This review is from: MUSSORGSKY: Pictures at an Exhibition / Boris Godunov/ Night on Bare Mountain (Stokowski Transcriptions) - Acoustic Reality Experience [7.1 DTS-HD Master Audio Disc] [Blu-ray] (Blu-ray)

The recorded sound is outstanding, with a wide dynamic range and just the right amount of reverberation. If you have a subwoofer, anchor down your valuable pottery--there are some low tones here that will start everything shaking, responsive qualities are captured in gorgeously detailed, atmospheric sonic splendor worthy of the most demanding audiophile.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Dramatic and Flamboyant, January 23, 2010

By 

David Bower (Houston, Texas, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: MUSSORGSKY: Pictures at an Exhibition / Boris Godunov/ Night on Bare Mountain (Stokowski Transcriptions) - Acoustic Reality Experience [7.1 DTS-HD Master Audio Disc] [Blu-ray] (Blu-ray)

I just finished listening to this recording again so as to refresh my memory on what it sounds like. For the record, I have a sound system that provides me much enjoyment.

I use the OPPO Blu-ray player connected to a Krell HTS preamp/processor which drives a five channel power amplifier. External bass management routes everything below 80 cycles to a Velodyne F1500R subwoofer with everything over 80 cycles to a matching Infinity speaker system which uses two Overture 3's as main speakers.

The total power output of this system is over 1,800 watts continuous; needless to say, I have never actually operated the system at that level.

I mention the above as it seems to be the norm to describe the equipment being used in evaluating a recording; now on to the recording.

This is a Blu-ray music recording in DTS-HD Master Audio. To realize the full potential of the recording the player must be connected to a full-range surround sound system. According to the disc, the recording dates from 2008. The conductor, Jose Serebrier, was associated with Leopold Stokowsky so he should fully understand what Stokowski wanted to accomplish with these transcriptions.

The transcriptions are rather dramatic showpieces and have a wide dynamic range; they will show off a good system to advantage. I have set my OPPO to an uncompressed dynamic mode so the dynamic range can be as wide as the recording allows.

The number of uncompressed audio recordings is still rather small. There seem to be some DTS-HD Master Audio recordings available but few Dolby True HD music recordings the last time I checked.

If you are committed to building a library of uncompressed audio recordings this one should be on your list. It does make some specific requirements on a system so it would be advisable to make sure your system can handle these recordings. The OPPO can handle all of the uncompressed audio formats plus SACD and DVD-Audio and has the 7.1 channel analog outputs. It also has the HDMI output but that would require your receiver or preamp processor have the ability to decode these formats.

This is an exciting time for audio/video enthusiasts!