Modest Mussorgsky : Picture at an Exhibition

It is always a good idea to bring out Ravel and Mussorgsky on a record, especially when one remembers that the Frenchman enhanced Mussorgsky’s colourful piano suite “Pictures At An Exhibition” with his outstanding arrangement for orchestra. The latest production from the Tacet label – purely manual and of course fully analogue – unites two important compositions from the two maestros entitled “Pictures & Reflections”. Here the Austrian master of the keyboard, Markus Schirmer, proves himself to be a real tonal magician, performing with bravura and vivacity on a F-278 grand piano manufactured by the Italian high-end maker Fazioli instead of the more usual Steinway.