Saint-Saëns - Piano Concertos - Naxos

[FBerwald]

Ok - So before the groans start reg. the number of Saint-Saëns Piano Concerto cycles - give this one a try.

For me one of the best interpretation was by  Jeanne-Marie Darré. Then came a number of good-in-their-own-way recordings including the splendid Jean-Phillippe Collard and Pascal Rogé. There is of-course [imo] the highly overrated release by Stephen Hough - on Hyperion's Romantic Piano Concerto series - The tempo employed to fit in all the works for piano & orchestra into 2 discs all but killed the concertos.

This latest Naxos offering with pianist Romain Descharmes with Marc Soustrot conducting Malmö Symphony Orchestra is a winner for me - PC No. 1 - Crisp playing without excesses or apologies - The orchestral accompaniment is every-bit as good as the pianist. I have probably never heard the details in the last movement as crisply ever before. PC No. 2 starts off sedately and stays true to the tempo marking - Andante Sostenuto. The real surprise is the 2nd movement - Allegretto scherzando. I admit I have always felt that the1st theme of this movement has always been rushed by most pianists so that when they arrive at the second theme, they and the orchestra stumble to get the right tempo [or in some cases follow through with the same speed and in effect ruin the orchestral "gallop" that's the heart of the trio]. Here Descharmes' tempo is near perfect so that the transition into the trio is elegant. The Presto movement has again been the vehicle for many pianists to show off their skills but Descharmes seems more interested in letting the music speak for itself. This un-rushed reading of Saint-Saëns is beautiful - With faster versions I had missed out on all the beautiful orchestral details and Saint-Saëns' mastery for writing for the piano which very transparent here.

There might be many more-polished recordings of these concertos out there but Descharmes, Malmö Symphony Orchestra and Soustrot deliver these pieces with a sincerity and elegance that's irresistible. May be i'm biased because I like my Saint-Saëns without much histrionics. 

I have yet to give the second volume containing the 3rd PC a spin.

[Alan Howe]

I'll be sticking with Rogé...

[adriano]

... and I still love the (first stereo) Ciccolini/Baudo - and the Entremont/Plasson versions! The Darré, of course, is super. Then, there is also Tacchino/De Froment and a very convincing one  by Anna Malikova and Thomas Sanderling. In my collection I have all 9 versions and I always re-listen from all :-). I simply adore these concertos.

[FBerwald]

Then give this one a try... you wont be disappointed!

[adriano]

Thanks, FBerwald :-)

[Christopher]

It was Saint-Saens that got me into classical music.  I bought a cassette (remember those..!) which was Cello Concerto No.1, Piano Concerto No.2 and Violin Concerto No.3 with the soloists, respectively, Yo-Yo Ma, Cecile Licad and Cho-Liang Lin.  I was hooked!  Since then I have bought anything and everything by Saint-Saëns, on principle!  He may yet bankrupt me... 

I used to listen to that cassette over and over again.  As a result, with respect to those three recordings, they are (still) the standard by which I judge all other versions of those works.  I couldn't even say if they are the best out there!

[giles.enders]

I am so pleased to hear that someone has the same feelings about the Hough rendering of the concertos as me.  Despite winning awards he crucifies these works.  I don't have the scores but would bet they are performed way faster than is indicated.  I have to say that as a pianist he doesn't impress me.  I came to these concertos via Ciccolini.  My favourite pianist for them is Collard,  Roget seems to take them at walking pace.  It is a shame they don't have more live outings.

[FBerwald]

Oh.. I like Hough - who couldn't help but love his Hummel A & B minor concertos and his Scharwenka 4 is his crowning glory. It's just that in mainstream repertoire he doesn't shine as much - having said all this I do hope friends here will at least go to the Naxos website where they can sample generous portions of the new release that I was going on and on and... about  

[Gareth Vaughan]

One presumes Naxos will record 4 & 5 with the same forces in due course. Will be interested to hear what you think of the Naxos 3rd with the other shorter pieces.
I certainly enjoyed the Naxos symphonies.

[adriano]

But Hough's Tchaikovsky (live) recordings, issued by Hyperion, are absolutely fantastic! Including the 4 bonus tracks! And in here I even like Osmo Vänskä...

[FBerwald]

Oh yes. The Tchaikovsky was a wonderful surprise. The tempo he used in the 1st concerto was a pleasant shock and it really worked to show this overplayed concerto in a new light.

[Christopher]

It is a shame they don't have more live outings.

His PC 2 and 5 are being played at the Proms this year (22 Aug and 16 Aug respectively).  5 has never really "done" it for me, am hoping this might change that!  I love 1,2 and 4 - 1 especially as it's so youthful and light without being shallow (in the same kind of way as Bizet's Symphony in C).

[Jonathan]

I really like the 5th concerto - the strange otherwordly slow movement and then the mad Toccata finale (also arranged for solo piano as the final one of the 6 etudes in Op.111) however, I do really like all the others. 

I have Ciccolini and Hough (sorry) in the concertos but will look up the Naxos ones on Spotify (if they are on there!).  It's always worth hearing several versions of the same work. 

As an aside, I do wish someone would do a recording of Bizet's solo piano arrangement of the 2nd concerto - I personally really find it annoying when something is marketed as "the complete piano music" and doesn't include the transcriptions and arrangements...I have 2 recordings of this and it really works very well.  If you don't know it, it's worth a listen (and I must dig out my score and have a go, I used to play the first movement very regularly but haven't done so for years).

[JimL]

FBerwald - there is no "trio" in the Allegretto scherzando of the G minor concerto.  If you give it a careful listen (and graph it out tonally and formally) you will find that it is in a perfect sonata form - as is the finale.

[adriano]

@Jonathan. They just should have mentioned "complete original piano music". At that time, piano arrangements and extracts were not put on such a high (and mostly exaggerated) pedestal as posterity is doing today. This also includes, in my personal opinion, Liszt's arragements of Beethoven's Symphonies... Who wants them in the concert-halls today? Pianists, recording and performing them in concerts should explore more important forgotten pieces. We should forget those "promotional" arrangements and appreciate mainly those for orchestra or other instrumental groups. Imagine recordings of all Symphonies by Romantic composers which were done for 4 or 2-hands-piano? Paraphrases are, perhaps, more valid and interesting...
Alban Berg's (unplayable) vocal score of Schreker's "Der Ferne Klang" (it had to be withdrawn and republished in an easier version by Ferdinand Rebay) and Arnold Schoenberg's & Co's operetta vocal scores (and orchestrations) are, as far as I remember, not mentioned in their work catalogues.