Search - Mussorgsky, Giullou :: Pictures at an Exhibition

The Great Organ of Zurich played by Guillou is Remarkable!

01/18/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This recording challenges your home stereo and the transcription of Pictures at an Exhibition shows the true Mastery of the King of Instruments by Jean Guillou. If you enjoy the colors and complexity of the Pipe Organ get this CD!"

A HUGE disappointment

Big Holton 345 | 12/16/2004

(1 out of 5 stars)

"It seems my opinion is at odds with the previous 2 reviews posted. I bought this CD when it first came out and had been reviewed favorably by Stereophile. Being quite familiar with "Pictures..." I was looking forward to a tour d'force, given the capabilities of a world class pipe organ. What a disappointment!!! While the recording and playing technique is outstanding, the transcription/interpretation, taken as a whole, is abysmal. Starting with the weak registration selected to open the first "Promenade", things never really get better, although they do get worse. Guillou takes off on a bizarre tangent in "The Great Gate..." which seems more of a personal exorcism than an interpretive benefit. If memory serves me, "The Tuileries" and "...Chicks in their Shells" were the lesser evils. Frankly, I found the description of the organ in the liner notes more interesting than the performance. My opinion is that the best use of this CD is for testing the bass response of your loudspeakers. There is good news, however; just recently I was able to sell this CD!!!! My advice is to listen to this CD in its entirety before committing any money to buy it."

Probably not what you're looking for...

John Dynan | Elwood, Vic Australia | 12/22/2006

(2 out of 5 stars)

"This is one of those unfortunate recordings which gets far too much kudos for its - admittedly exceptional - technical qualities. Jean Guillou has actually tried pretty hard to voice a new interpretation of Mussorgsky's "Pictures" but is ultimately unsuccessful. It was an admirable attempt but musically it is not really up to scratch. Guillou is a fine performer but would probably have been better off sticking to Cesar Franck's compositions rather than taking on Mussorgsky.



The much-vaunted recording quality is, indeed, worth mentioning because it is so clean and is a good test for an audiophile-grade HiFi system but it must be remembered that this is supposed to be about the music and I will not give it points on that score alone. There are many other recordings of excellent quality out there which are better interpretations as well. The recording doesn't fit into the "disaster" category, as does the Emerson, Lake and Palmer offering from the 1970s which merged "Pictures" with - Lord help us - prog rock, but it probably won't satisfy either pipe organ fans or afficianados of the original work.



To a degree, I personally like it but I cannot recommend it as a good interpretation. I can only put it in the "nice try" category."