NRR Project: 'Pictures at an Exhibition': Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Rafael Kubelik, conductor (1951)

 

NRR Project: Pictures at an Exhibition

Composed by Modest Mussorgsky; Orch. Ravel

Performed by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra; Rafael Kubelik, conductor

Recorded 1951

28:49

The reason for the inclusion of this piece is its innovative use of improved technology to record a truer sound. At the National Recording Registry, Michael Gray explains.

The basic approach of the sound engineers who recorded this performance was simple. Recorded in Chicago Symphony Hall, rather than miking various sections of the orchestra and mixing the results, they set up a single condenser Telefunken U-47 microphone 25 feet above the conductor’s podium. They hit the sweet spot. The result is a “recording (that) was the inaugural release on Mercury’s Living Presence series.”

“In the liner notes for the Mercury rerelease, Robert C. Marsh commented that the original discs ‘represented the highest state of the art in monophonic recording technique.’” Listening to it today, its dynamic range leads one to agree that it makes for a perfect hi-fi demonstration record, for which it was used during the period. Its fidelity is remarkable.

 Interestingly, the piece was originally scored for solo piano. Written in 1874 by composer Modest Mussorgsky, it was not published until 1886. In 1922, Maurice Ravel orchestrated it, and it quickly became a concert-hall favorite. Mussorgsky commemorates the works of his late friend, artist Victor Hartmann. A connecting theme transitions the listeners from “painting” to sonic “painting.” Mussorgsky’s exceptional inventiveness keeps the conceit fresh and alive.

The LP sat on many a shelf in the early 1950s.

The National Recording Registry Project tracks one writer’s expedition through all the recordings in the National Recording Registry in chronological order. Next time: Pope Marcellus Mass.