Saint-Saëns: Piano Concertos, Vol. 2

Pianist Louis Lortie's second album of Camille Saint-Saëns's piano concertos completes the cycle with Nos. 3 in E flat major and 5 in F major, 'Egyptian'. Saint-Saëns himself was the first soloist in both works, premiering No. 3 in Leipzig in 1869 and No. 5 in Paris in 1896, at a jubilee concert in his honour. Two more works for piano and orchestra complete the collection. Lortie is joined by the BBC Philharmonic and Edward Gardner.

Featuring

Louis Lortie
Edward Gardner
BBC Philharmonic
Camille Saint-Saëns

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Composition History

Saint-Saëns's Fifth Piano Concerto, subtitled 'Egyptian,' draws inspiration from his travels, with the second movement evoking croaking frogs and quoting a Nubian love song heard on the Nile.

Recording & Production

This album was recorded using 24-bit / 96 kHz technology, which provides a dynamic range up to 48 dB greater and 256 times the resolution of standard 16-bit recordings.

Composer Biography

Camille Saint-Saëns, born in 1835, was considered a classicist but was also at the forefront of musical change in the 1860s.

Compositional Technique

Saint-Saëns's Third Piano Concerto includes two sizeable cadenzas in unusual places, making the first movement more like a fantasia than a typical sonata form.

Critical Reception

The premiere of Saint-Saëns's Third Piano Concerto in 1869 received a hostile reception, with the slow movement even inciting 'punch-ups in the corridors' due to its unconventional key and harmonies.

Composition History

The Rhapsodie d'Auvergne was inspired by a folk song Saint-Saëns heard a peasant woman singing while washing clothes in a stream in the Auvergne region of France.

Composer's Artistic Vision

In his Fifth Piano Concerto, Saint-Saëns deliberately avoided the Wagnerian style, suggesting to his compatriots that other sources of inspiration were available beyond the dominant German influence.