Orchestra of Radio Luxembourg, Louis de Froment, Gabriel Tacchino - Saint-Saëns: Complete Piano Concertos (2014)

Tracklist

01. Piano Concerto No. 1 in D major, Op. 17: I. Andante – Allegro assai
02. Piano Concerto No. 1 in D major, Op. 17: II. Andante sostenuto quasi adagio
03. Piano Concerto No. 1 in D major, Op. 17: III. Allegro con fuoco
04. Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor, Op. 22: I. Andante sostenuto
05. Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor, Op. 22: II. Allegro scherzando
06. Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor, Op. 22: III. Presto
07. Piano Concerto No. 4 in C minor, Op. 44: I. Allegro moderato
08. Piano Concerto No. 4 in C minor, Op. 44: II. Allegro vivace
09. Piano Concerto No. 3 in E-Flat Major, Op. 29: I. Moderato assai
10. Piano Concerto No. 3 in E-Flat Major, Op. 29: II. Andante – III. Allegro non troppo
11. Piano Concerto No. 5 in F Major, Op. 103 "Egyptian": I. Allegro animato
12. Piano Concerto No. 5 in F Major, Op. 103 "Egyptian": II. Andante
13. Piano Concerto No. 5 in F Major, Op. 103 "Egyptian": III. Molto allegro
14. Piano Concerto No. 5 in F Major, Op. 103 "Egyptian": Fantasy for Piano and Orchestra, Op. 89 "Africa"



Camille Saint-Saëns was a truly revered composer in mid-19th- and early-20th-century France. A contributor to many genres and to the general French musical renaissance of this time, he was described as ‘the greatest musical mind’ of the era by Hans von Bülow, after he sight read the orchestral scores of Wagner’s operas Lohengrin, Siegfried and Tristan und Isolde. Saint-Saëns’ music was often bold and ambitious, but he was nevertheless a cautious composer who understood the importance of reputation in Paris at this time; his most successful work, The Carnival of the Animals, was not published until after his death, as he feared the effect it would have on his reputation as a serious composer.

This collection brings together all of Saint-Saëns’ piano concertos, providing a chronological tour through much of his career: the period of composition spans from 1858 to 1896. Written just five years after the dazzling First Symphony, Concerto No.1 portrays a hint of wariness, displaying charm rather than overt bravura (the only exception being the virtuosic concluding cadenza). The perennial favourite Concerto No.2 is next, composed in just three weeks and with the ink barely dry on the page at the first performance. A highlight of No.3 is the second movement Nocturne, with its tender melody, while No.4 features hymn-like melodies and dazzling brass fanfares. No.5, the ‘Egyptian’, lives up to its name in its exotic, Arabian themes, with the hints of a bazaar audible in the splendid finale.

Africa Op.9, a veritable piano concerto written by Saint-Saëns during his holiday in the Canary Islands in 1890, brings the collection to a close. The works are performed by critically-acclaimed Gabriel Tacchino, one of the great post-war French classical pianists, and the Orchestra of Radio Luxembourg, directed by Louis de Froment.

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