Camille Saint-Saëns isn't really known as a symphonist, and only his Symphony No. 3 in C minor, Op. 78 ("Organ Symphony") is recorded with any frequency. Conductor Jean-Jacques Kantorow, coming off a successful series of the composer's piano concertos with his son Alexandre Kantorow at the keyboard, is undertaking a cycle of Saint-Saëns symphonies with the Orchestre Philharmonique Royal de Liège, and this is all to the good. This release, featuring early works written between the composer's mid-teens and his early 20s, may ...
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Camille Saint-Saëns isn't really known as a symphonist, and only his Symphony No. 3 in C minor, Op. 78 ("Organ Symphony") is recorded with any frequency. Conductor Jean-Jacques Kantorow, coming off a successful series of the composer's piano concertos with his son Alexandre Kantorow at the keyboard, is undertaking a cycle of Saint-Saëns symphonies with the Orchestre Philharmonique Royal de Liège, and this is all to the good. This release, featuring early works written between the composer's mid-teens and his early 20s, may appeal most to Saint-Saëns fans, but it certainly has much to offer them, and it's no less than fun for anyone. The cycle begins with the unnumbered Symphony in A major, written around 1850 when Saint-Saëns was 15. This rarely recorded piece is an essay in Mozart's style, to be sure, but Kantorow's punchy approach clearly brings out the young composer's growing independence. The energetic tempos and well-accented rhythms are maintained throughout, with the effect that Kantorow gives...
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