Ever since I heard Isao Tomita's interpretation of it (in my early teens), Modest Mussorgsky's Great Gate of Kiev has been one of my favorite musical compositions. Scintillating, reflective and majestic, it is a wonderful expression of a kind of musical temperament that I, unimaginatively, describe as "very Russian."
The Great Gate of Kiev has a deep and rich history, worth reading about in Wikipedia, as it belongs to the suite Pictures at an Exhibition, written by Mussorgsky for the piano and inspired by the pictorial work of his friend Viktor Hartmann.
The suite went on to become popularized through a series of orchestral arrangements, the best known of which, and illustriously so, was created by Maurice Ravel.
My favorite recording of Pictures is conducted by musical powerhouse Valery Gergiev and puts together a strong selection of music with a superb orchestra (Vienna Philarmonic) and conductor, captured with modern-day recording technology.
This album includes a recording of Night on the Bare Mountain. This piece is a complete whirlwind of emotion, and I have NPR to thank for helping me rediscover it. The announcer's interpretation of the piece was very engaging and enriching, and I walked away with a greatly deepened appreciation for it.
