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"The big-screen projection is an uninterrupted suite of delight, with effects of movement, space and depth, always successfully achieved. The "Catacombes" are mind-boggling and a sky filled with bells dominates the "Great Gate of Kiev"... The arrangement for fifteen strings made by Turovsky recreates astonishingly well the atmosphere of each piece, including the little squeaks of the "Unhatched Chicks"."  La Presse, Montreal

"The ensemble produced a beautiful homogeneous sound. Under the baton of guest conductor Airat Ichmouratov, I Musici di Montréal performed the work with admirable subtlety and finesse." Kansas City Star

"...playing of great technical precision, warmth and fine rhythmic elan."
Sunday Times, London

"...every player was not only alert but brilliantly assured. It is hard to do justice to the effect of such playing, vividly committed from top to bottom..." Financial Times, London

"...winning, persuasive artists of the highest caliber..."
Washington Times

"an extremely successful evening thanks to, and principally because of, the musicians who worked as a unit and who were visibly happy to be there."
Le Devoir

"Turovsky poured passion into the interpretation, but kept it from an over-romantized reading."
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

"But among the chamber orchestras of international calibre that have played at Leipzig's Gewandhaus, I Musici de Montréal stands out with a unique character"
Leipiziger Volkszeitung

"A spellbindingly unified ensemble."
Toronto Star

"Whiplash precision and tension"
Stereo Review, New York

"an interestingly crafted program of both old and new music that elicited from the audience applause as thunderous as the rain that beat down on Palm Beach County during the afternoon."
Palm Beach Post

"The 14 strings played with the perfection of 14 virtuoso soloists."
South China Morning Post, Hong Kong

"The Incredible String Band"
The Independent, London


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Trailer of the film

 Ballet/Unhatched Chicks 





 

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I Musici de Montréal

Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition - with the award-winning film by Natasha Turovsky and Gael Hollard

I Musici de Montréal performs Mussorgsky's masterful "Pictures at an Exhibition" with the award-winning film of choreographed paintings by Natasha Turovsky. The film was inspired by Mussorgsky's beloved piece and the story behind it -- paintings of Victor Hartmann were the original inspiration for Mussorgsky’s timeless music. The centerpiece of this towering program features the Mussorgsky classic in a production traveling with digital projections of the fifteen large-scale paintings by Natasha Turovosky -- including, The Promenade, Baba-Yaga, The Gates of Kiev and more. The film, co-created with digital animator Gael Hollard, is featured on-stage via
large screen projection above the orchestra. Acclaimed artist Natasha Turovsky's work has been seen in solo exhibitions from Hong Kong and Barcelona to Cleveland, Boston and Montréal. Her work has been commissioned by diverse requests from record labels, chamber music ensembles and more. Among the major press generated by her remarkable paintings is a new BRAVO Documentary, "Pictures at a Concert", and honors for the choreographed paintings at several film festivals. 

Watch the trailer for the film. Or watch a the Ballet of the Unhatched Chicks. A DVD of the film with I Musici de Montreal performing Mussorgsky's work is available on request.  

In 2007, the film won an Excellence in Cinema Award at the New York International Independent Film and Video Festival. The film has just been selected for the 2010 Cannes Independent Film Festival in the Animated Short category. More...

"The big-screen projection is an uninterrupted suite of delight, with effects of movement, space and depth, always successfully achieved. The "Catacombes" are mind-boggling and a sky filled with bells dominates the "Great Gate of Kiev"... The arrangement for fifteen strings made by Turovsky recreates astonishingly well the atmosphere of each piece, including the little squeaks of the "Unhatched Chicks"."  
La Presse, Montreal

"...Yuli Turovsky, arranged the work for the group’s 15 string players. The work was musically satisfying, and the resulting leaner textures and cleaner lines produced by a small group of strings are arguably closer to the composer’s original vision. Ten paintings by Turovsky’s daughter Natasha, who also played violin in the orchestra, were inspired by the music. A series of digital images were extrapolated from the paintings, manipulated and projected onto a screen above the musicians onstage. The resulting collaboration was surprisingly well choreographed, with many images even moving in time with the music. The work’s finale, “The Great Gate at Kiev” was moving, with the marvelous music set to images of faceless hordes of Russian peasants and tolling bells."
Kansas City Star

"...art inspired by music inspired by art..." KCMetropolis.org

"The film was “choreographed” by the Turovskys to match element of action in the music... the scenes created by the younger Turovsky in muted earth tone colors were equally haunting and whimsical, literal and abstract. While this sort of collaboration is found often in the contemporary arts, it was enjoyable to see classical musicians have a turn injecting new life into a standard work over a century old in this way, making a connection between the visual and auditory."  KCMetropolis.org


Read Yuli Turovsky's description of how this special project came to be.

Sample Program Structure:

Shostakovich -Chamber Symphony op.49bis (Orchestral version of Quartet #1.)
Tchaikovsky Serenade
intermission
Mussorgsky-Pictures at an Exhibition for strings with film

Shostakovich Prelude & Scherzo, op. 11
Tchaikovsky Serenade
intermission
Mussorgsky - Pictures at an Exhibition with film

"...every player was not only alert but brilliantly assured. It is hard to do justice to the effect of such playing, vividly committed from top to bottom..." Financial Times, London

"The orchestra responded to Turovsky's skillfully turned phrases with a golden intonation and supple sense of musical line...Turovsky and I Musici de Montréal are passionate musicians, and they go right to music's guts." The Washington Post

For more information on engaging any of I Musici de Montréal's programs, please contact:
Martha Woods, Jonathan Wentworth Associates, Ltd. at 301/277-8205 mjws@jwentworth.com or call our main office in New York at 914-667-0707.  








 

 

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