Orlova, a musicologist who specializes in Russian composers, here assembles 36 reminiscences by Mussorgsky's contemporaries, following the composer, born in 1839, from his student days to his death in 1881. Included are recollections by critics, pupils, performers, friends who helped him through alcoholism, poverty and illness, and such composers as Rimsky-Korsakov and other members of the Balakirev circle, the group of musicians with whom Mussorgsky was intimate. Overall, readers learn more about the composer's appearance, personal relationships, brilliance as a pianist and pathetic inability to cope with the world than about his compositions. Certain of the memoirs, particularly that of Golenishchev-Kutuzov, on whose poems Mussorgsky based a number of compositions, are biased and unreliable, according to Orlova, who provides extensive endnotes in an attempt to establish the facts. Photos not seen by PW.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
Most of the 36 memoirs collected in this volume were originally published in Russian in 1931. They vary greatly in length and significance, yet generally contend that this tragically disturbed individual who drank himself to death at the age of 42 was a brilliantly gifted, but somehow unfinished composer. While offering few new insights into the man himself, these memoirs by his contemporaries often provide valuable information on Russian cultural life during the mid-19th century, and on the circle of intellectuals in Musorgsky's milieu. There are a bewildering number of names for the reader to sort out, and editor Orlova, a Soviet emigre and former member of the Union of Soviet Composers, provides copious endnotes. What this book lacks is an opening biographical chapter on Musorgsky which would provide a factual context for the reader to assess these very personal and often conflicting reminiscences. For large music collections.
- Susan Kagan, Hunter Coll., CUNY
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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