Dancing to the tune of two Russian masters

Mussorgsky's Songs and Dances of Death and Rachmaninov's Symphonic Dances are elegantly played by Dmitri Hvorostovsky and the St Petersburg Philharmonic

Composer: Mussorgsky, Rachmaninov
Repertoire: Songs and Dances of Death (Mussorgsky), Symphonic Dances (Rachmaninov)
Artists: Dmitri Hvorostovsky, St Petersburg Philharmonic/Yuri Temirkanov
Rating:  4/5 
Genre: Orchestral
Label: Warner 2564 62050-2

Distinguished performances of two death-haunted Russian masterpieces. The silken-toned Hvorostovsky is intensely seductive in the Mussorgsky, at his finest in the serenade from Death to an ailing young girl, though he perhaps favours technical perfection at the expense of the scary, visionary qualities demanded in the two last songs. Rachmaninov’s Symphonic Dances receives an elegant, atmospheric, expertly paced performance.