About this product

Product Identifiers

Record LabelErato, EAO

UPC0724354560323

eBay Product ID (ePID)12046059830

Product Key Features

Release Year2004

FormatCD

GenreClassical

ArtistSaint-Saens / Capucon / Pahud

Release TitleSeptet

Dimensions

Item Height0.38 in

Item Weight0.20 lb

Item Length5.88 in

Item Width5.64 in

Additional Product Features

Number of Tracks22

Number of Discs1

Tracks1.1 Introduction Et Marche Royale Du Lion 1.2 Poules Et Coqs 1.3 Hemiones (Animaux Veloces) 1.4 Tortues 1.5 L'elephant 1.6 Kangourous 1.7 Aquarium 1.8 Personnages a Longues Oreilles 1.9 Le Coucou Au Fond Des Bois 1.10 Voliere 1.11 Pianistes 1.12 Fossiles 1.13 Le Cygne 1.14 Final 1.15 Fantaisie en la Majeur, Pour Violon ; Harpe, Op.124 1.16 Romance in Fa Majeur, Pour Violoncelle ; Piano, Op.36 1.17 Priere en Sol Majeur, Pour Violoncelle ; Piano, Op.158 1.18 Mon Coeur S'ouvre a Ta Voix 1.19 I. Preambule: Allegro Moderato 1.20 II. Menuet: Tempo Di M Inuetto Moderato 1.21 III. Intermede: Andante 1.22 IV. Gavotte ; Final: Allegro Ma Non Troppo

NotesSaint-Saens: Le Carnaval des Animaux, Septuor-Fantaisie, Camille Saint-Saëns (Composer), Renaud Capuçon (Performer), Gautier Capuçon (Performer), Emmanuel Pahud, Paul Meyer, Frank Braley, Michel Dalberto, David Guerrier, Marie-Pierre Langlamet, Florent Jodelet, Janne Saksala - This is a delightful record. It brings together some of Europe's best musicians for a program of primarily unfamiliar works by Saint-Saëns which show him from his most playful, humorous side, and they clearly have a grand time. The only well-known work on the program, "The Carnival of the Animals," is a portrait gallery juxtaposing the familiar with the exotic, and succeeds, by purely musical means, in evoking the salient characteristics of each creature with keen observation, psychological acumen, and benevolent wit. The Lion struts in a regal march, the Asses bray, the Birds twitter; the flute gives the Cuckoo's drooping thirds great variety of expression, the Aquarium shimmers ethereally. Saint-Saëns, a brilliant pianist, even pokes fun at himself in a parody of two pianists practicing exercises in unison or contrary motion, but always slightly out of sync. He also did not scruple to borrow from his contemporaries for utmost effect: Tortoises shuffle to an Offenbach can-can, the Elephant dances to Berlioz's Valse de Sylphs, the Finale, borrowing from Rossini's Barber of Seville, is grandly operatic. "The Swan," the work's most familiar and only serious movement, is performed beautifully, with a touching, unsentimental simplicity. The "Fantasy for Violin and Harp," a bravura piece for both instruments, alternates brilliant passages with dreamy, nostalgic lyricism. Three cello pieces are slow, songful, and passionate; the last is a very successful transcription of the famous aria from "Samson and Delilah." All these works are played to the hilt for virtuosity, color, atmosphere, and expression. The Septet is another fun piece-whimsical, mischievous, comic. Everybody has lots of solos, especially the trumpet, whose virtuoso part mixes mock heroism with baroque flourishes. The Menuet is a courtly dance, the Trio a delicate love song; the slow movement is somber, the Finale a carefree romp.