Two contrasting orchestrations aid aural promenade through Mussorgsky’s masterpiece.

Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition is one of the few works you can hear differently every time. Made famous by Maurice Ravel’s 1922 orchestration, the work has been reshaped by musicians throughout history. The Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra chose both Ravel’s and Julian Yu’s versions for their family concert compered by radio personality Christopher Lawrence.

The night was just as much about the music as it was about the pictures which inspired Mussorgsky. The original paintings by his artist friend Victor Hartmann were projected alongside drawings by Tasmanian school students, which were, in turn, created as a response to the music.

Yu’s opening Promenade had me in constant expectation of the bold thematic entries Ravel had set in history, but were written out of this modern arrangement. His string lines certainly produced the impression of walking around a museum or gallery – but perhaps coming across a few Chinese paintings on the way, as subtle remnants of his culture made their way into the otherwise Russian sounding work.

From a musical perspective, it was educational to be exposed to the contrasting arrangements back-to-back. While Ravel’s famous orchestration allocates themes across clearly divided instrumental...