The Romantic Piano Concerto 27 - Saint-Saëns - Hyperion: CDA67331-2 - 2 CDs or download

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If Saint-Saëns's idiom once answered – and maybe still does – to qualities fundamental to the French musical character, it must be said straight away that Hough sounds the complete insider. He... — Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010 More…

Release Date: 1st Sep 2001
Catalogue No: CDA67331-2
Label: Hyperion
Series: The Romantic Piano Concerto
Length: 2 hours 35 minutes

Gramophone Awards

2002

Recording of the Year
Gramophone Awards

2002

Winner - Concerto
Gramophone Magazine

November 2001

Editor's Choice
Presto Favourites

Recommended Recording
Penguin Guide

Rosette
Gramophone Awards

2008

Gold Disc

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Saint-Saëns: Piano Concerto No. 1 in D major Op. 17

Work length26:02

$3.30

$4.50

Stephen Hough (piano)
City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra
Sakari Oramo

I. Andante: Allegro assai

Track length11:37

$1.10

$1.50

II. Andante sostenuto quasi adagio

Track length8:00

$1.10

$1.50

III. Allegro con fuoco

Track length6:25

$1.10

$1.50

Saint-Saëns: Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor, Op. 22

Work length21:40

$3.30

$4.50

Stephen Hough (piano)
City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra
Sakari Oramo

I. Andante sostenuto

Track length10:08

$1.10

$1.50

II. Allegro scherzando

Track length5:23

$1.10

$1.50

III. Presto

Track length6:09

$1.10

$1.50

Saint-Saëns: Piano Concerto No. 3 in E-flat major Op. 29

Work length25:48

$3.30

$4.50

Stephen Hough (piano)
City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra
Sakari Oramo

I. Moderato assai – Più mosso (Allegro maestoso)

Track length12:26

$1.10

$1.50

II. Andante

Track length6:16

$1.10

$1.50

III. Allegro non troppo

Track length7:06

$1.10

$1.50

Saint-Saëns: Wedding Cake - Valse-Caprice, Op. 76

Work length5:58

$1.10

$1.50

Stephen Hough (piano)
City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra
Sakari Oramo

Saint-Saëns: Piano Concerto No. 4 in C minor, Op. 44

Work length24:42

$2.20

$3.00

Stephen Hough (piano)
City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra
Sakari Oramo

I. Allegro moderato

Track length11:18

$1.10

$1.50

II. Allegro vivace

Track length13:24

$1.10

$1.50

Saint-Saëns: Piano Concerto No. 5 in F major, Op. 103 'Egyptian'

Work length27:07

$3.30

$4.50

Stephen Hough (piano)
City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra
Sakari Oramo

I. Allegro animato

Track length10:11

$1.10

$1.50

II. Andante – Allegretto tranquillo quasi andantino – Andante

Track length11:07

$1.10

$1.50

III. Molto allegro

Track length5:49

$1.10

$1.50

Saint-Saëns: Rapsodie d'Auvergne, Op. 73

Work length9:02

$1.10

$1.50

Stephen Hough (piano)
City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra
Sakari Oramo

Saint-Saëns: Allegro appassionato, Op. 70

Work length5:11

$1.10

$1.50

Stephen Hough (piano)
City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra
Sakari Oramo

Saint-Saëns: Africa - Fantasie for piano & orchestra Op. 89

Work length9:47

$1.10

$1.50

Stephen Hough (piano)
City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra
Sakari Oramo

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Favourites, Camille Saint-Saëns

James explores the music of French composer Camille Saint-Saëns and chooses some of his favourite recordings.

It is surprising, given the popularity of the repertoire, that all the recordings of Saint-Saens' complete concertos currently before the public pre-date the CD era and none of them are fully digital. In addition it has never before been possible to obtain all the composer's output for piano and orchestra on only two CDs. For these reasons alone this latest addition to the 'Romantic Piano Concerto' series is likely to become one of the most successful of all. The Gramophone 'Record of the Year' winning team of Stephen Hough and the CBSO are joined by their new principle conductor Sakari Oramo in performances which combine all the elegance required for the Frenchman's music with the utmost bravura. Saint-Saens himself was a formidable pianist and his rare 1904 (!) 78rpm recording of Africa has until now been matchless; finally in Stephen Hough's performance he has a rival. With so much in its favour we are quite confident that this new cycle of these piano concertos will become the benchmark recording for many years to come.

Reviews

2010

If Saint-Saëns's idiom once answered – and maybe still does – to qualities fundamental to the French musical character, it must be said straight away that Hough sounds the complete insider. He commands the range of the big statements, whatever their character, as well as sparkle and panache, a sense of drama and seemingly inexhaustible stamina; and he can charm. Yet perhaps most delightful is the lightness and clarity of his decorative playing.
It's a bonus for the virtuoso passages not to sound hectic or overblown – for Saint-Saëns, virtuosity always had an expressive potential.
There's an air of manufacture about the writing sometimes, certainly, but as Hough knows, there must be nothing mechanical in its delivery.
Sweeping across the keyboard, dipping and soaring through the teaming notes, he flies like a bird. He manages to convey what makes these pieces tick: fine workmanship, fantasy, colour, and the various ways Saint-Saëns was so good at combining piano and orchestra. The orchestra has plenty to do. These scores are textbooks of lean but firm orchestration from which at least one major French composer learned (Ravel, another eclectic, who must have seen the 'old bear' as a kindred spirit). The days are past when the CBSO under Louis Frémaux was considered Britain's 'French' orchestra, but with Sakari Oramo it does splendidly here, playing alertly with its inspiring soloist as he does with it (another plus). The recording balances are fine, with lovely piano sound and plenty of orchestral detail in natural-sounding perspectives.

2011 edition

Marvellous performances of these delightful and ever inventive works from Stephen Hough, full of joy, vigour and sparkle, with Oramo and the CBSO acompanying spiritedly and with the lightest touch...An easy first choice for this repertoire.

With performances as persuasive as these from pianist Stephen Hough, it makes one wonder why these works aren't performed more often. My favourite is probably the fifth concerto, nicknamed the Egyptian, in which the joy that both Hough and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra under conductor Sakari Oramo bring to the last movement is quite palpable. A splendid set indeed, including other shorter works such as the Fantasy, Africa, partly written whilst Saint-Saëns was on an Egyptian cruise, recovering from a serious illness.

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The Romantic Piano Concerto 27 - Saint-Saëns

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Favourites, Camille Saint-Saëns

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