Saint Saëns : Le Carnaval des Animaux

Description

“‘How many harsh things,’ wrote Saint-Saëns, ‘against virtuosity!... The fact must be proclaimed from the rooftops: in art, a difficulty overcome is a thing of beauty.’ There are many such beauties in Le Carnaval des animaux, and their difficulties are not for the timid or the technically faint-hearted, especially as regards the two pianists. On this disc, not only are the difficulties overcome, but dispatched with tremendous verve and wit. In the Septuor, the musicians rightly refuse to make more music than there actually is. This light touch allows us to savor Saint-Saëns’s professionalism: every part of the texture has its shape and color and, if there were compositional difficulties to overcome, one would never know it. The four shorter pieces on this magnificent disc include the delightful Fantaisie for violin and harp, and three arrangements for cello and piano drawn from the horn, organ, and opera repertories.’ --- Gramophone Classical Music Guide ---”