Listen & tracks
1 of 36 tracks have a preview · 3 works · 66:23
-
1 Doumka Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky 8:23
-
CarnavalRobert Schumann 20 movements26:38
- 2 Préambule 1:58
- 3 Pierrot 2:06
- 4 Arlequin 1:02
- 5 Valse noble 1:31
- 6 Eusebius 1:32
- 7 Florestan :52
- 8 Coquette 1:14
- 9 Réplique/Sphinxes 1:15
- 10 Papillons :42
- 11 A.S.C.H – S.C.H.A lettres dansantes :47
- 12 Chiarina :59
- 13 Chopin :58
- 14 Estrella :25
- 15 Reconnaissance 1:34
- 16 Pantalon et Columbine :53
- 17 Valse allemande/Intermezzo: Paganini 2:07
- 18 Aveu :49
- 19 Promenade 2:15
- 20 Pause :17
- 21 Marche des Davidsbündler contre les Philistins 3:22
-
Pictures at an ExhibitionModest Mussorgsky 15 movements31:22
- 22 Promenade 1:33
- 23 The Gnome 2:12
- 24 Promenade :52
- 25 The Old Castle 3:47
- 26 Promenade :27
- 27 The Tuileries :57
- 28 The Ox-Cart (Byldo) 3:11
- 29 Promenade :47
- 30 Ballet of the Chicks in their Shells 1:03
- 31 Samuel Goldenburg and Schmuyle 2:08
- 32 Promenade 1:23
- 33 The Market Place in Limoges 1:28
- 34 The Catacombs: con mortuis in lingua mortua 3:41
- 35 The Hut on Fowl’s Legs 3:11
- 36 The Great Gate of Kiev 4:42
Pictures is a showcase of piano works from the Romantic period, built around two of the best-known instrumental examples of pictorialism in the repertoire: Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition and Schumann’s Carnaval.
Pictures at an Exhibition, a magnificent cycle of ten pieces with connecting promenades, was inspired by an exhibition held a year after the death of Mussorgsky’s close friend, the artist Victor Hartmann. The work shows Mussorgsky’s gift for representing emotions and personalities. Through imitation and musical gesture he leads the listener step by step through an enchanting musical exhibition.
Carnaval, a work of absolute mastery and one of the most beloved in the piano repertoire, was composed by a love-smitten Schumann in 1834. Estrella came from the town of Asch, and Schumann used those letters—matching the German musical alphabet and the letters in his own name—to form a musical code that shapes virtually the entire thematic content. Set as part carnival, part masked-ball, Carnaval mirrors Schumann’s life and influences in many esoteric and wonderful ways.
Tchaikovsky’s Doumka, unfailingly Russian in character and full of tremendous contrasts and fluctuations, makes a stunning addition to the collection.
Take a musical wander through Pictures!
Reviews
some truly lovely playing
Artists
Modest Mussorgsky
composer
Modest Mussorgsky (1839–1881) was a Russian composer of the Romantic period, celebrated for a boldly national voice that stood apart from Western convention. His music turns repeatedly to Russian history, folklore and the vivid colour of everyday speech.
Robert Schumann
composer
Robert Schumann (1810–1856) was a German composer and music critic of the early Romantic era. His piano works and songs remain among the most enduring of the period.
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
composer
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840–1893) was a Russian composer of the Romantic era. His ballets, concertos and orchestral works remain among the most widely performed music in the classical repertoire.
Ian Holtham
piano
Professor Ian Holtham is one of Australia’s most distinguished and highly regarded pianists and pedagogues. His performances of the great Classical and Romantic repertoire have drawn packed houses and strong critical acclaim for many years.
Digital booklet
Digital booklet Notes, texts and credits — read online or download the PDF Download the PDFPerformers
- Ian Holtham · piano
Technical credits
-
Recording Engineer
Martin Wright
Vaughan McAlley
-
Venue
Move Records Studio
-
Thanks to
John McKinlay
Stephen Duns
UK Music Consortium
-
Credit
Alan Davison
Brigitta Stoddart
Details
- List price
- $25.00 AUD
- Total playing time
- 66 minutes 23 seconds
- Release date
- 1996
- Categories
- Classical, Keyboard
- Musical work copyright
- © 1996 Move Records
- Sound recording copyright
- ℗ 1996 Move Records
- Catalogue
- MD 3193
- EAN
- 9314574319323
More to explore
Scarlatti's Steinways at Melbourne
The remarkable output of 555 keyboard sonatas by Domenico Scarlatti (1685–1757) remains one of the most original contributions in Western art music. Pianist Ian Holtham selects 23 sonatas, sequenced into four Baroque tonal groupings and recorded on the Conservatorium’s four Steinway Model Ds.
Giants in the Land
Recorded in Melba Hall, this world premiere finds Melbourne pianist Ian Holtham in a brilliant cross-section of Australian contemporary piano works by Brenton Broadstock, Linda Kouvaras, Stephen Ingham, Stuart Greenbaum, Johanna Selleck and Christine McCombe.
Acts of Homage
Acclaimed pianist Ian Holtham marks the centenary of Brahms’s death and the bicentenary of Schubert’s birth. The programme sets Schubert’s late impromptus beside Brahms’s Handel Variations and late piano pieces, with Godowsky’s song transcriptions as a further homage.
Études
Ian Holtham, piano. Chopin’s twenty-four Études, Op. 10 and Op. 25: perfect examples of their genre, wonderfully innovative in texture and uncompromisingly challenging in technical difficulty.
Crossing Paths
Ensemble Liaison and the Tony Gould Trio take turns across the programme: each piece is heard first in a scored reading, then in an improvised jazz response that opens the same melodic and harmonic material to fresh colour.
Night Thoughts
During the long still nights of Melbourne’s Covid lockdowns, pianist Len Vorster listened widely and thought hard about what he heard. Those evening ruminations became this programme of fifteen nocturnes and night pieces, from Schumann’s circle to Copland.