This is the first time a Saint-Saens Piano Concerto gets into my Blog, i guess a strange Composer of the Piano Concerto, he's not in the same league as other greats, and yet his Concerti aren't mere trifles either, and there's some very nice things going on in these Concertos, especially in 2 & 4, Hough / Litton have a newer set out on Hyperion, supposedly better performances, no doubt better recorded too, and yet i'm really quite fond of these performances, i like this set, and i played the whole thing, even though i have to admit that his output is uneven, and just recently i've listened to the Piano Concertos 2 & 3 of Tchaikovsky for the first time, now they're very much in the idiom of Saint-Saens, but Tchaikovsky is weak, whereas Saint-Saens is really quite inventive, these are really worth getting to know.
Jean-Philippe Collard is French, he's now 65, he recorded this work back in 1985, so the recording is nearly 30 years old, and it somewhat shows, a bit muddy in textures, the front cover is a painting by Paul Signac entitled 'Saint Tropez Pine Wood', a nice little example of pointillism.
Jean-Philippe Collard is French, he's now 65, he recorded this work back in 1985, so the recording is nearly 30 years old, and it somewhat shows, a bit muddy in textures, the front cover is a painting by Paul Signac entitled 'Saint Tropez Pine Wood', a nice little example of pointillism.
