Russian Spectacular - Mussorgsky: Pictures At An Exhibition / Night On A Bare Mountain / Balakirev: Islamey / Borodin: Polovtsian Dances

This disc of orchestral showpieces features four of the five members of the Mighty Handful, a group of Russian composers who, during the second half of the 19th century, collaborated to create a distinct national style. The recorded works illustrate different aspects of their endeavours -both in terms of the musical means they employ and their subject matter. Orientalism is one of the typical features of the music of the group, as witness Balakirev's Islamey-employing material from the Caucasus

Mountains -and Borodin's Polovtsian Dances, describing the revels of a nomadic eastern tribe during a 12th-century raid into the Russian lands.