# Charles Camille Saint Saens Piano Concerti



## tahnak

No one talks about these gems. Not a single person writes about them. It is a gross dishonour.
Each concerto is spiritually inspired and a masterwork in its own right.
There are not many recordings. Not many conductors include these in their repertoire.
Louis Froment and Andre Previn have done a good job on these.
Any time of the year, any of these concerti are a good hear.
Simply superb.
Saint Saens, you are indeed a great composer and a master creator.
Tchaikovsky's three piano concerti are my ultimate followed by Sergei Rachmaninov, Frederic Chopin, Ludwig Van Beethoven, Johannes Brahms, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Robert Schumann solo, Edvard Grieg, Franz Liszt and then Saint Saens definitely features with the greatest set of piano concerti. Maurice Ravel and Sergei Prokofiev also feature here.


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## Polednice

I like No. 2. It's fun.


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## clavichorder

You best post about this in the orchestral music forum. Number 2 and 4 are truly great, I am most impressed by 4. These are magical works indeed.


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## dmg

No. 3 is my favorite.


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## kv466

Polednice said:


> I like No. 2. It's fun.


Although I like them all,...I love the 2 as it was interpreted by my boy; never even bothered looking for a better version of this one as he had already proven to me that no one can do a better at-least-five-concerti by the time I got to this one.


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## Ukko

Gilels/Cluytens is my favorite; they get that ridiculous 2nd movement over with ASAP.


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## Sid James

I agree, I esp. like #2 & #4. #2 with that quite dark opening fugal cadenza, out of this world, it's like kind of morbid is how I can describe it, thoughts that most composers don't dwell on, they don't want to go there. & #4, which I think Liszt said was one of the finest concertos since Beethoven's, and it indeed mirrors Liszt's innovations in transforming a theme into something quite unrecognisable by the end. I really like Idil Biret's performance on Naxos, but there are many others. Speaking of which -



tahnak said:


> No one talks about these gems. Not a single person writes about them. It is a gross dishonour.
> Each concerto is spiritually inspired and a masterwork in its own right.
> There are not many recordings. Not many conductors include these in their repertoire.
> Louis Froment and Andre Previn have done a good job on these...


I think #2 is virtually a warhorse, it gets played here by flagship orchestras often. If a French pianist comes out here, it's inevitable that he/she plays either this concerto or something by say Ravel or Poulenc, etc.

But I agree that not many people know the others, but #5 is getting outings here as well. I think that 2 & 4 are quite memorable, well for me, anyway.



> ...Saint Saens, you are indeed a great composer and a master creator...


Agreed there.


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## Air

Besides the exotic "Egyptian" sounds that give the piece its name, there are moments in the Egyptian concerto that remind me of Debussy. It's astounding, especially considering that it was only written in 1896.

So much for Saint-Saens being a die-hard conservative.


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## HarpsichordConcerto

Air said:


> Besides the exotic "Egyptian" sounds that give the piece its name, there are moments in the Egyptian concerto that remind me of Debussy. It's astounding, especially considering that it was only written in 1896.
> 
> So much for Saint-Saens being a die-hard conservative.


Good point, Air. I agree with your thoughts on the _Egyptian_ concerto. I have the complete set played by Stephen Hough. An outstanding set. (Hyperion label)


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## TrazomGangflow

Concerto no. 2 is my favorite. It almost has a modern element to it.


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## Ukko

Besides several single discs, I have the sets by Roge and Darre (don't remember where the diacriticals go). Both sets are excellent.


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## TresPicos

Air said:


> Besides the exotic "Egyptian" sounds that give the piece its name, there are moments in the Egyptian concerto that remind me of Debussy. It's astounding, especially considering that it was only written in 1896.
> 
> So much for Saint-Saens being a die-hard conservative.


Couldn't agree more.

I doubt it'll ever leave my Top 10 Piano Concertos list. I especially love the second movement with its wild beginning and solo piano dissonances.


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## moody

Hilltroll72 said:


> Besides several single discs, I have the sets by Roge and Darre (don't remember where the diacriticals go). Both sets are excellent.


The Jeanne-Marie Darre set is wonderful ,her husband is the conductor. There is not enough of her stuff available but there is a big problem for some people here--horror upon horror it's in mono.


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## tahnak

clavichorder said:


> You best post about this in the orchestral music forum. Number 2 and 4 are truly great, I am most impressed by 4. These are magical works indeed.


 Piano concerti may be discussed upon this forum and not in the orchestral. It is clearly delineated.


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## Sofronitsky

No. 5 is quickly becoming my favorite piano concerto, though this is probably because I've heard my other "favorites" millions of times(Will someone please write a new piano concerto worth listening to?). I love 2, and also 4, but for me No. 5 is the greatest of them all. It is consistently interesting and moving, a unique concerto written more than a century ago!


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## Romantic Geek

As echoed by most here, I think #2 is his best, by far. I mean, I really don't think it's close at all. But then again, I would put his second piano concerto towards the top of piano concerti of all time, I think it is that good.

#4 is decent. I can't seem to wrap my head around #5 though. Maybe after listening to a few of his other exotic works, I hoped that the 'Egyptian' concerto was more exotic, but I found it pretty plain.


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## moody

Romantic Geek said:


> As echoed by most here, I think #2 is his best, by far. I mean, I really don't think it's close at all. But then again, I would put his second piano concerto towards the top of piano concerti of all time, I think it is that good.
> 
> #4 is decent. I can't seem to wrap my head around #5 though. Maybe after listening to a few of his other exotic works, I hoped that the 'Egyptian' concerto was more exotic, but I found it pretty plain.


You wanted belly dancers??


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## clavichorder

Number four was my favorite, but now I am most interested in Five. I listened to four too much, I think.


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## brianwalker

How did I let myself get to these treasures so late, it makes me wonder what else I'm missing out on.


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## clavichorder

brianwalker said:


> How did I let myself get to these treasures so late, it makes me wonder what else I'm missing out on.


There are a surprising number of immediately apparent gems in the French late romantic. Dig around with Saint Saens(Violin Concerto no. 3, I highly recommended). Emmanuel Chabrier has some unique and wondrous gems on a more miniature level.


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## Alydon

Polednice said:


> I like No. 2. It's fun.


Yes, definately. I was staying in Paris several years ago when I first heard this
work - it came on the radio and blew me away with the solo opening and I can never listen to it without remembering that time.


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## clavichorder

tahnak said:


> Piano concerti may be discussed upon this forum and not in the orchestral. It is clearly delineated.


Just saying, you would get more responses and views if you posted in the orchestral music. And its "legal." I think of this section for actually playing and the other section for music appreciation.

But you did get responses, so it worked anyway.


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## Orange Soda King

I have never liked No. 2 at all. I think it's quite silly. However, I GREATLY love Nos. 4 and 5. "Africa" Op. 89 is also a lot of fun.


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## maestro267

I've really started getting into Saint-Saëns' piano concertos recently. No. 3 is my favourite. The beginnings of both the first and second movements are magical. But there's something I love about all five of them.


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## Nevohteeb

I love the fourth, the best. I remember seeing, Robert Casadesus, the great French pianist, playing it with the Toronto Symphony, way back in the early '70s. It was delightful.


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