» Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition [Includes DVD]

Editorial Review for Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition [Includes DVD]:

Cameron Carpenter, who is probably the most brilliant (and therefore most controversial) young organist on the concert circuit, has chosen a blockbuster program. First is his arrangement of Mussorgsky's "Pictures at an Exhibition." Carpenter reveals astonishing new insights into the original piano score and Marshall Yeager's Kaleidoplex fractal art lends an exciting visual element to the DVD. The second half is "New York City Sessions" by Cameron Carpenter. A result of evenings improvising on the inspiring Trinity organ, one theme of Carpenter's suite is C-B-G-B, the name of one of New York's most famous rock music clubs. At times sounding like a theatre organ, a cathedral instrument, a techno nightclub, or the New York City subway system, Carpenter explores the organ's resources in extraordinary depth and detail. For anyone that wants to know what a 21st Century organ of 240-voices sounds like when exercised to its full capacity, this album is a must! In addition, the DVD includes a documentary on the making of the album. Carpenter plays the Trinity organ, visits Manhattan locales, and is interviewed. The DVD also includes a recording of a Virgil Fox "performance" on the Trinity Organ. Fox, whom The New York Times called "the ultimate switched-on master of the instrument," recorded Bach's Trio Sonata No. 6 in G Major on his beloved Aeolian-Skinner organ at the Riverside Church in 1963. Douglas Marshall accurately transferred all of Fox's interpretation and expression to the Trinity Organ. Marshall Yaeger added charming and amusing Kaleidoplex fractal art. Experiencing the results in 5.1 Surround Sound will provide a transcendental experience to the listener.