Saint-Saëns: Piano Concerto Roundup

 

Like many others rabid Classical Music fans 25 years ago, I jumped on the bandwagon to fête a new recorded cycle of piano concertos by Camille Saint-Saëns. That recording was from Stephen Hough on Hyperion, a performance which won tons of awards around its release.

I have since greatly cooled on that recording. I might go so far as to say it bores me now. Hough's playing is light and frothy to a fault, and each time I revisit the playing from Oramo and the CBSO, I find ensemble problems.

So, to come back to the French composer's piano concertos, I thought I would go opposite of the traditional pianistic approach to Saint-Saëns and visit Louis Lortie's traversal of the works, another British presentation, but this time from Chandos.

Lortie's has not been lauded the way Hough's was. Perhaps it is because we have had so many quality 21st Century recordings of these piano concertos since. Alexandre Kantorow has made the most splash recently in this music, but also Descharmes, Froment, and Malikova have contributed on various record labels. I am not sure if it will turn into a cycle, but Chamayou also received many plaudits for his playing of Piano Concertos 2 & 5 as well. Of course, we still have authoritative cycles from Ciccolini and Collard for those who don't mind traveling further back in time.

Before I continue diving into the recording at hand, I should probably comment on the music to some degree. It is perhaps fortuitous I started with the symphonies in my most recent listening cycle of Saint-Saëns' music. Although mostly written later than the symphonies, I sense the composer takes many more chances in the piano concertos than he does the symphonies, minus, perhaps, his last in the genre. His experiments with form and harmonies go much further afield than his first four symphonies could have ever hoped for.

Piano Concerto no. 2 in G minor turns form on its head by starting at a moderate pace, placing the Scherzo in the middle, and injecting dance-hall sensibilities into the final movement. The Fifth Piano Concerto's middle movement toys with modes from across the globe, taking us from Spain, to the Caucuses, and into the Middle East for an odd combination and motion of harmony. And who isn't reminded of Saint-Saëns' famous Organ Symphony when the composer structures his Piano Concerto no. 4 into only two movements, but divides each movement into two contrasting sections as well?

It should also be noted that Saint-Saëns is widely considered to be the first French composer in the concerto genre, although I have no academic backing to support any such statement. How bold and surprising then, to hear the piano alone begin the Second Piano Concerto and further ones after it? And those melodies and themes! Why does the Third Piano Concerto remain in obscurity? Perhaps I was wrong to associate other composers, but that main theme of the first movement reminds me so much of Mahler and Sibelius at their best.

Are all of these elements due to the piano being the composer's main instrument? It is certainly possible, for Saint-Saëns was a noted prodigy and virtuoso of the keyboard, where one can sense the virtuosity as well as the love of the instrument throughout these five piano concertos. In the first, let's say three, piano concertos, it seems the composer is reticent to even allow the piano to pause for any significant length of time. In the last two concertos, perhaps the third as well, I sense some allowance given over to the orchestra, even if Saint-Saëns was always good about making piano and orchestra a strong partnership.

So what of Louis Lortie playing Saint-Saëns? He certainly takes an opposite approach compared to most others. Even in the first concertos, I was reminded of Franz Liszt, Tchaikovsky, and Rachmaninov. Lortie fully commits to a truly Romantic-Era sound, preferring big gestures over the typical airiness afforded the French composer. This, I think, is where Lortie finds his detractors in Saint-Saëns.

And yet, how often do we as listeners want a different approach to the same old music which is recorded again and again. Certainly, these concertos sound less 'French' here than European, again forgoing any lightness for bold attacks and forward movement. Yes, I do think some of the movements move to fast and gloss over details and emotional setups, but I am not put off either. In fact I relish the change. I can grab any countless recordings of these concertos and here a typical approach to Saint-Saëns, but how many make the composer sound like a Romantic in the vein of Liszt?

I think his music can hold up to such a rough handling as well. Maybe some of this music's National qualities are lacking here, but the music on its own seems to be able to take Lortie's vision. That vision is buoyed by the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra under Edward Gardner, neither pianist nor conductor holding either back. I do think the piano is too gargantuan sounding in Volume 2 of Piano Concertos nos. 3 & 5, although this is a Chandos' fault, not the performers, where Volume 1 is ideal in comparison.

The speeds of Lortie and Gardner are very close to Hough and Oramo, ones considered rather fleet as well, although the two performances couldn't sound more different from one another. I do think the BBC PO excels here where the CBSO on Hyperion is wanting. Here on Chandos, Lortie offers only the Allegro Appassionato and Rhapsodie d'Auvergne as extras, whereas Hough adds Africa and Wedding Cake to the program. I will admit I forgot the innate beauty of the Auvergne Rhapsody, so this visit had an additional plus.

Recording Round-up


Piano Concerto 1 in D Major
Piano Concerto 2 in G minor
Piano Concerto 4 in C minor
      Louis Lortie, piano
    BBC Philharmonic Orchestra
    Edward Gardner, conductor
    Chandos, 2018

Piano Concerto 3 in E-flat Major
Piano Concerto 5 in F Major 'Egyptian'      
      Louis Lortie, piano
    BBC Philharmonic Orchestra
    Edward Gardner, conductor
    Chandos, 2020

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