Nabil Shehata, the conductor, was the principal solo double bass of the Berlin Philharmonic from 2004 to 2008.
Notable Performances
The premiere of Saint-Saëns' Cello Concerto No. 1 was given by its dedicatee, Auguste Tolbecque, a cellist, on January 19, 1873, at the Société des Concerts du Conservatoire.
Compositional Technique
The three movements of Saint-Saëns' Cello Concerto No. 1 are played without a break, forming a self-referential cyclical structure, similar to a work by Schumann from 1850.
Composition History
Saint-Saëns' opera Samson and Delilah, originally conceived as an oratorio, was recast for the opera house at the persuasion of Ferdinand Lemaire, who wrote the libretto.
Composition History
Saint-Saëns submitted his Symphony in E flat major, composed at age seventeen, under the guise of an anonymous German composer, fearing he would not be taken seriously.
Performer Biography
Astrig Siranossian, the cellist on this album, plays a Ruggieri cello from 1676, which is generously loaned to her by the Boubo Music Foundation of Binningen.
Composition History
Camille Saint-Saëns, the composer, was still mourning his great-aunt Charlotte Masson, who had taught him piano, when he was working on his Cello Concerto No. 1.
