Nelson Freire plays Saint-Saëns' Piano Concerto No. 2 and Piano Works by Grieg & Liszt

Featuring

Ádám Fischer
Nelson Freire
Radio-Symphonie-Orchester Berlin
Camille Saint-Saëns
Edvard Grieg
Franz Liszt

Did you know?

1/7

Compositional Technique

Saint-Saëns' Piano Concerto No. 2 is unusually structured, with the first movement serving as a mighty prelude and the two subsequent movements being half its length.

Critical Reception

The quality and originality of Saint-Saëns' Piano Concerto No. 2 were not fully recognized until the twentieth century, when great pianists like Artur Rubinstein began championing it.

Composer Biography

Franz Liszt, despite being born in Hungarian crown land and composing Hungarian Rhapsodies, never learned to speak Hungarian.

Composition History

Camille Saint-Saëns, the composer of the Piano Concerto No. 2, wrote the entire work in just seventeen days and premiered it himself in 1868.

Recording & Production

The recordings on this album were originally made by RIAS Berlin, a German radio station, and are licensed through Deutschlandradio.

Notable Performances

At the premiere of his Piano Concerto No. 2, Saint-Saëns himself struggled with the virtuoso demands of the piano part, leading to a lukewarm audience reaction.