Han-Na Chang Conducts Pictures at an Exhibition

In 1874, Modest Mussorgsky attended an art show presented in memory of his friend, the artist Viktor Hartmann—it knocked him sideways. Returning home, he wrote a set of commemorative piano pieces, each representing a different work of art. It was a touching tribute. But it took a master orchestrator to make those paintings bloom. In 1922, Maurice Ravel infused Mussorgsky’s pieces with his unrivaled genius for orchestral color, and the rest is his...