Mussorgsky: Unorthodox Music Claire Booth & Christopher Glynn

• Modest Mussorgsky (1839 - 1881):
• 1 Mussorgsky: The Goat (A Society Tale) 02:30
• 2 Mussorgsky: Memories of Childhood: I. Nanny and I 01:15
• 3 Mussorgsky: The Nursery: I. With Nanny 01:47
• 4 Mussorgsky: The Nursery: II. In the Corner 01:38
• 5 Mussorgsky: Memories of Childhood: II. Nanny Locks Me in a Dark Cupboard 01:31
• 6 Mussorgsky: The Nursery: IV. With the Doll 01:56
• 7 Mussorgsky: The Nursery: VI. Hobby Horse 03:24
• 8 Mussorgsky: Porte-enseigne Polka 03:01
• 9 Mussorgsky: Desire 02:39
• 10 Mussorgsky: Impromptu-passionné 02:33
• 11 Mussorgsky: From my tears 01:41
• 12 Mussorgsky: Hopak of the Merry Young Ukrainians 01:51
• 13 Mussorgsky: Night 04:16
• 14 Mussorgsky: Hopak 03:11
• 15 Mussorgsky: Oh, How Your Eyes Look At Me Sometimes 02:36
• 16 Mussorgsky: Oh, You Drunken Sot! 03:01
• 17 Mussorgsky: Intermezzo in modo classico 03:33
• 18 Mussorgsky: Songs and Dances of Death: III. Trepak 05:02
• 19 Mussorgsky: Album Leaf: Méditation 04:17
• 20 Mussorgsky: The Leaves Rustled Softly 03:40
• 21 Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition: Cum Mortuis in Lingua Mortua 02:39
• 22 Mussorgsky: Sunless: I. Within Four Walls 01:33
• 23 Mussorgsky: Sunless: VI. On the River 04:21
• 24 Mussorgsky: Rêverie 05:13
• Total Runtime 01:09:08

Info for Mussorgsky: Unorthodox Music

Soprano Claire Booth and pianist Christopher Glynn follow their critically acclaimed collaborations Percy Grainger: Folk Music and Edvard Grieg: Lyric Music with Modest Mussorgsky: Unorthodox Music, interspersing a selection of the Russian composer's under-represented songs with solo piano works.

First Percy Grainger: Folk Music, then Edvard Grieg: Lyric Music, and now Modest Mussorgsky: Unorthodox Music a logical sequence in soprano Claire Booth's and pianist Christopher Glynn's growing AVIE discography, interspersing a selection of under-represented songs with solo piano works by this most individual and idiosyncratic of all Russian composers.

Claire and Chris approach Modest Mussorgsky: Unorthodox Music in the spirit of a storyteller, tracing an arc of life from innocence to experience that is arranged across a prologue and four "scenes" Nursery, Youthful Years, Marriage and Loneliness taking their cue from the colourful tableaux of the composer's operas. Individual numbers from the great song cycles Youthful Years, Nursery, Sunless, and Songs and Dances of Death are juxtaposed with works from Mussorgsky's more unorthodox output, all delivered by Claire and Chris with disarming affect.

Claire Booth, soprano
Christopher Glynn, piano

Claire Booth
“An actor-singer who can raise the dramatic heat as soon as she enters the stage” (Opera Now), “that most questing, resourceful and intelligent of sopranos” (Daily Telegraph), British soprano Claire Booth has been widely acclaimed for her “radiant, rapturous, wonderfully nuanced performances” and voice of “piercing purity [and] luscious richness” (The Scotsman). She is renowned for her breadth of repertoire, and for the vitality and musicianship that she brings to the operatic stage and concert platform, with a versatility that encompasses repertoire spanning from Monteverdi and Handel, through Rossini, Berg and Britten, to a fearless commitment to the music of the present day. Booth has won the 2025 RPS Singer Award with the jury celebrating an artistry that “knows no bounds.” ...

Christopher Glynn
is a Grammy award-winning pianist, praised for his ‘breathtaking sensitivity’ (Gramophone), ‘irrepressible energy, wit and finesse’ (The Guardian) and ‘revelatory performances’ (BBC Music Magazine).

Chris grew up in Leicester, read music at New College, Oxford, and studied piano with John Streets and Malcolm Martineau. He was awarded the accompaniment prize in the 2001 Kathleen Ferrier competition, the 2002 Geoffrey Parsons Award, the Silver Medal of the Worshipful Company of Musicians, and the 2003 Gerald Moore Award.

He is regularly heard on BBC Radio 3 and Classic FM and has recorded many acclaimed and ground-breaking albums for labels including Signum, Hyperion, Decca, DG, Coro, Chandos and Somm. He has premiered works by many leading composers and collaborated with a wide variety of organisations from the Richard Alston Dance Company to Streetwise Opera. ...

Booklet for Mussorgsky: Unorthodox Music