(October 2020) Episode 295 is MODEST MUSSORGSKY. Composer of the well-known Pictures at an Exhibition, Night on Bald Mountain and Boris Gudonov (but that’s about all you need to know). One of a group of Russian romantics who incorporated Russian national aesthetics (although not subversively aimed at national liberation, as contemporaries from other nations did), Mussorgsky did not leave a large oeuvre as he held a day job, was an alcoholic and died young.
Favorite piece: Night on Bald Mountain
Compared to expectations: same
Opus Project 