Camille Saint-Saëns

Started by BachQ, April 12, 2007, 05:11:55 AM

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Brian

I treat them like podcasts. Put them on, change the tab, answer emails, clean the bathroom, organize the laundry. That's exactly what podcasts are for.

I do not like that every time Hurwitz is mentioned in any context, there has to be this long conversation about the guy himself. Reverting to the subject at hand - not quite convinced to buy Warner's CSS big box yet, since I have a whole lot of the music (much of it in Warner/Erato's performances). But the presentation is so gorgeous! And the historical rarities are enticing. Gotta sit down and really compare what's in the box and what's in my collection. And, yes, gotta watch the DH video for his customary detailed breakdown disc by disc.

Which painter are they showcasing on all the cover wallets this time?

Mirror Image

Quote from: Brian on October 27, 2021, 05:25:01 PMWhich painter are they showcasing on all the cover wallets this time?

It looks like the artwork of Camille Pissarro on all of the sleeves.

JBS

Quote from: Jo498 on October 27, 2021, 11:20:35 AM
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I am missing piano music but I was just not sufficiently interested to get that voxBox with all? of it. I wonder if there are good 1-2 disc anthologies of St-S piano music.

There doesn't seem to be anything other than a few pieces in recital albums and a few recorded by Chamayou as filler on his recording of two of the concertos.  Burleson is doing/has done a complete traversal on Piano Classics. There's a ton of sheet music listed so it might be simpler to play it yourself.

The Vox box may in fact be your best option. Amazon US prices are cheap enough. It doesn't include the solo version of Africa, although Burleson does.

As to the music itself, that struck me as being perfect salon music.


Hollywood Beach Broadwalk

Brian

#243
Quote from: Mirror Image on October 27, 2021, 05:40:22 PM
It looks like the artwork of Camille Pissarro on all of the sleeves.
Thanks! Now I just gotta figure out the Bartok covers ;D

Burleson's piano series is hampered by very close acoustics, like a college practice room. I am a big fan of this late romantic salon repertoire, love Saint-Saens and Moszkowski and all those fluffball piano pieces, but Burleson comes across a little bit sober because the sound doesn't have a lot of color or dynamic range.

Mirror Image

Quote from: Brian on October 27, 2021, 06:34:42 PMThanks! Now I just gotta figure out the Bartok covers ;D

I'll need to have a gander at those covers as I don't own that set either (I own a lot of recordings from it however).

From the looks of it, it appears that there's an admixture of different artists in the Bartok set. I can definitely tell that one of the paintings from the box set's pack shot is J. M. W. Turner:


Brian

Oh yeah, that is a mixture of different people. Odd!

amw

Quote from: JBS on October 27, 2021, 06:30:38 PM
There doesn't seem to be anything other than a few pieces in recital albums and a few recorded by Chamayou as filler on his recording of two of the concertos. 
I'm fairly sure I have this album. Salon music is accurate, but it's charming and fairly eclectic, as I recall.

Brian

Quote from: amw on October 27, 2021, 07:23:29 PM
I'm fairly sure I have this album. Salon music is accurate, but it's charming and fairly eclectic, as I recall.
I definitely have it and agree.

ritter

Strange that it should be me who mentions this here on GMG (as I'm not that much of a fan of the composer, and my first forays into the recent Warner box really didn't generate in me an urge to explore his work in more depth —for the time being, at least  ;)—), but Camille Saint-Saëns in Algiers 100 years ago today.

Mirror Image

I just wanted to say that I've been enjoying the Saint-Saëns Warner box set immensely, but I've also been listening to some other recordings I already had in my collection and enjoying ever second of it. Maybe I'm not being critical enough but I honestly haven't heard a work from Saint-Saëns that I didn't at least enjoy on some level. A master craftsman, but it should be said there is emotion in his music and even though it doesn't bludgeon you over the head, it's still there and in such a beautifully clear way. I mentioned in the "2022 Exploration" thread that Saint-Saëns was going to be a composer I was going to do a deeper dive into and, so far, I haven't regretted any time spent with his music.

Mirror Image

I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed this "Listening Guide" to Le Carnaval des animaux. Highly recommended if you love this work as much as I do.

https://www.youtube.com/v/7z2gbvDTekc

Symphonic Addict

Quote from: Mirror Image on January 09, 2022, 07:58:31 PM
I just wanted to say that I've been enjoying the Saint-Saëns Warner box set immensely, but I've also been listening to some other recordings I already had in my collection and enjoying ever second of it. Maybe I'm not being critical enough but I honestly haven't heard a work from Saint-Saëns that I didn't at least enjoy on some level. A master craftsman, but it should be said there is emotion in his music and even though it doesn't bludgeon you over the head, it's still there and in such a beautifully clear way. I mentioned in the "2022 Exploration" thread that Saint-Saëns was going to be a composer I was going to do a deeper dive into and, so far, I haven't regretted any time spent with his music.

Saint-Saëns is like Martinu, where much of his output manages to entertain you and provide pleasure to you and you seem not to tire of!
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Quote from: Symphonic Addict on January 10, 2022, 02:35:50 PM
Saint-Saëns is like Martinu, where much of his output manages to entertain you and provide pleasure to you and you seem not to tire of!

I can certainly see this, Cesar. Hours and hours of pleasure. Poulenc is like this for me, too.

71 dB

#253
I think Camille Saint-Saëns is one of those composers who have been a bit overlooked compared to the quality of their output. Whenever someone starts to listen to his works more seriously he/she is oftentimes up for a pleasant surprise.  :)

Camilla Saint-Saëns was probably the biggest musical prodigy of all times. I think he was an extremely intelligent individual and composing music for him was rather easy compared to other composers. I believe the lack of ambition on surface level in his music is due to this, but it is also deceptive. I think the "ambition" in his music is hidden deeper on higher levels of musical meaning, something that surely would have been interesting for a person with super-high intelligence. Mozart's (another prodigy) art is similar in this sense: Easy to listen to, but astonishingly sophisticated when analysed deeper.

The music of Saint-Saëns gives me this feeling of "really smart things" happening under the simple surface.
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Mirror Image

Quote from: 71 dB on January 11, 2022, 01:00:58 AM
I think Camilla Saint-Saëns is one of those composers who have been a bit overlooked compared to the quality of their output. Whenever someone starts to listen to his works more seriously he/she is oftentimes up for a pleasant surprise.  :)

Camilla Saint-Saëns was probably the biggest musical prodigy of all times. I think he was an extremely intelligent individual and composing music for him was rather easy compared to other composers. I believe the lack of ambition on surface level in his music is due to this, but it is also deceptive. I think the "ambition" in his music is hidden deeper on higher levels of musical meaning, something that surely would have been interesting for a person with super-high intelligence. Mozart's (another prodigy) art is similar in this sense: Easy to listen to, but astonishingly sophisticated when analysed deeper.

The music of Saint-Saëns gives me this feeling of "really smart things" happening under the simple surface.

Yes, I think the melodic, harmonic and rhythmic sophistication of Saint-Saëns' music doesn't always register for many listeners. They can't look beyond the surface sheen. It seems the most common reaction is "Oh, that's charming" or something along these lines.

Mirror Image

I'm not one to promote a David Hurwitz video, but I have to say he was spot-on with his remarks about Saint-Saëns, especially in the opening couple of minutes or so:

https://www.youtube.com/v/tFEbUuvLE6I

I, too, believe he has been unfairly dismissed or ignored based some idiotic preconceived notions that actually have nothing to do with the music itself.

Mirror Image

#256
A nice little video:

https://www.youtube.com/v/eSb0ZY7CxBw

I thought the comments he made that behind every innovative composer there stands a direct influence on them: behind Schoenberg, there's Wagner, behind Stravinsky there's Rimsky-Korsakov and behind Ravel there's Saint-Saëns.

To further the Ravel and Saint-Saëns connection, I found this article interesting:

https://www.wrti.org/wrti-spotlight/2017-05-06/poulenc-couldnt-believe-what-ravel-said-about-saint-saens

Spotted Horses

The mentions of Saint-Saens have made me curious enough to look at my not-too-small holdings of Saint-Saens recordings, and I find I have all of the significant works. One question is the rarely performed concerti. Every famous violinist records the third concerto and every famous cellist records the first. The other two violin concerti and the second cello concerto only seem to appear in "complete" recording projects. Has anyone heard these works?
There are simply two kinds of music, good music and the other kind. - Duke Ellington

Florestan

Quote from: Spotted Horses on January 14, 2022, 07:39:09 AM
The mentions of Saint-Saens have made me curious enough to look at my not-too-small holdings of Saint-Saens recordings, and I find I have all of the significant works. One question is the rarely performed concerti. Every famous violinist records the third concerto and every famous cellist records the first. The other two violin concerti and the second cello concerto only seem to appear in "complete" recording projects. Has anyone heard these works?

I have. There's a reason why they play only the 3rd VC and the 1st CC.  :laugh:
Every kind of music is good, except the boring kind. — Rossini

Jo498

I think the 2nd cello concerto is underrated but the other violin concerti (one more like a concert piece) are very understandably way behind the b minor concerto. I'd probably say that the 3rd violin concerto is his most significant concerto overall.
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