Years ago, while working on the Pictures at an Exhibition print series, the background music in the studio was often . . . Pictures at an Exhibition by Modest Moussorgsky. There were many different versions to choose from including orchestral, piano and brass. The piece varied as different conductors added their personal style and interpretation to the music. Leopold Stokowski actually eliminated two of the pictures, Tuileries and The Market Place at Limoges, feeling that they were more French than Russian. Quite a few CDs of Pictures found their way onto my shelves.
Since then several vinyl versions have also joined the collection, enjoyed mainly for the album art:
1961 album with cover art by Josef Albers
1967 album, side one – Vladimir Ashkenazy, side two – Zubin Mehta
1971 Emerson, Lake and Palmer
plenty of info on Wikipedia here
and, saving the best for last:
1972 Vladimir Horowitz, piano version and Toscanini conducting Ravel’s orchestration of “Moussorgsky’s masterpiece that inspired Emerson, Lake and Palmer’s hit!”
It’s hard to decide which is most amusing, the groovy cover art or the album notes headlined by:
Keith Emerson
Modest Moussorgsky
Carl Palmer
Maurice Ravel
Greg Lake
Victor Hartmann. . .
It’s just a guess, but this is probably the only time you’ll ever read that combination.
More information on the print series, Pictures at an Exhibition, is available on my website.
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