Composer, piano virtuoso, conductor, teacher - Camille Saint-SaÃ«ns was all of these things, but also a keen archaeologist, astronomer, botanist, historian, illustrator, poet, playwright... A seasoned traveller, he was the most famous French musician in his own lifetime, acclaimed in North and South America, the Middle East and across Europe. It is ironic, then, that his extensive and varied output isn't better known today - except for a few works of which the most famous, Carnival of the Animals, is one Saint-SaÃ«ns himself had little affection for. Now often regarded as old-fashioned or even reactionary, we tend to forget that Saint-SaÃ«ns during his lifetime was sometimes heckled for the boldness of his works. Furthermore, he defended the music of the revolutionaries Wagner and Liszt, earned the admiration of figures as Berlioz, Debussy and Ravel and - in 1908 - composed one of the first original scores for a film! Jean-Jacques Kantorow and the Tapiola Sinfonietta have championed the music of Saint-SaÃ«ns on a series of acclaimed albums, and are now joined by the young Alexandre Kantorow - son of the conductor - for a survey of his works for piano and orchestra. In 1858, Saint-SaÃ«ns became the first major French composer to write a piano concerto, but on this first release of two the Kantorows present the three last concertos. Composed over a period of almost 30 years (1868 - 1896), these are highly individual works: Piano Concerto No. 3 is a bold attempt to reconcile Classical form with a Lisztian pianistic brio, No. 4 employs an unusual formal scheme in which themes are reused in a cyclic manner and, finally, the 'Egyptian' (No. 5), named after the second movement, which in the composer's own words describes 'a sort of Eastern journey that goes all the way to the Far East'.

Tracklist:

Piano Concerto No. 3 In E-Flat Major, Op. 29: I. Moderato Assai
Piano Concerto No. 3 In E-Flat Major, Op. 29: II. Andante
Piano Concerto No. 3 In E-Flat Major, Op. 29: III. Allegro Non Troppo
Piano Concerto No. 4 In C Minor, Op. 44: I. Allegro Moderato - Andante
Piano Concerto No. 4 In C Minor, Op. 44: II. Allegro Vivace - Andante - Allegro
Piano Concerto No. 5 In F Major, Op. 103 "Egyptian": I. Allegro Animato
Piano Concerto No. 5 In F Major, Op. 103 "Egyptian": II. Andante
Piano Concerto No. 5 In F Major, Op. 103 "Egyptian": III. Molto Allegro

UPC: 7318599923000
Label: Bis
Release Date: 5.3.19
Format: CD

Saint-Saens / Kantorow - Piano Concertos 3-5 (CD)