Mussorgsky's "Pictures at an Exhibition" with Markus Stenz

’s Pictures at an Exhibition Modest Mussorgsky visited an exhibition of paintings by his friend Viktor Hartmann, who had recently passed away. He incorporated his impressions into a piano suite, and the master orchestrator Maurice Ravel created a beloved orchestral version of this*Pictures at an Exhibition*. The music is evocative and at times grand and majestic, yet it is also brimming with humor. Sergei Rachmaninoff was also inspired by a series of paintings: his symphonic poemThe Isle of the Deadis a musical interpretation of one of the paintings of the same name by the Swiss Symbolist Arnold Böcklin. Based on an old Italian legend about a deceased person who steps into his own coffin, Böcklin’s painting depicts a figure in a rowboat sailing toward an island, symbolizing the transition from life to death. Rachmaninoff builds his music with a sense of foreboding; stroke by stroke, the island—and with it, death—draws ever closer. The music is lingering and occasionally a bit somber, yet above all strikingly light and brilliant.

Markus Stenz
During his tenure as chief conductor beginning in 2012, German conductor Markus Stenz took the Radio Philharmonic Orchestra to new heights. Regarding his farewell concert as chief conductor in 2019,de Volkskrant wrote: 'He (Stenz) manages to keep the orchestral texture transparent even in the most densely orchestrated passages, while simultaneously drawing you into an intoxicating performance.'NRCpublished a 5-star review. Since his departure, he has conducted the orchestra on several occasions. With this evocative program, he returns once again to the orchestra he knows so well.