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UK Mall 1 - Saint-Saëns: The Complete Works for Piano and Orchestra
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List Price: £30.99
Our Price: £22.48
Your Save: £ 0.00 ( % )
Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours
Manufacturer: Hyperion
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Binding: Audio CD
EAN: 0034571173313
Label: Hyperion
Manufacturer: Hyperion
Number Of Discs: 2
Publisher: Hyperion
Release Date: 2001-09-03
Running Time: 155
Studio: Hyperion
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: spirited, elegant... Saint-Saens!
Comment: It is hard to imagine a more sympathetic, nor indeed high spirited, homage to Saint-Saens than this marvellous recording. All five of the piano concertos have something to recommend them and I am glad that they are finally being appreciated on their own grounds. Long neglected, Concertos 1, 3, 4 and 5 are marvellous pieces, full of fun, elegance and poise. The recording itself is in a real class of its own, and this is a very worthy 'sister' of Hough's recent recording of Rachmaninoff's concertos.
Also present here are some smaller pieces, a little like Mozart's one movement rondos. Here, as in the Concertos, Mozart's presence can be felt. However it is the synthesis of Mozart's light orchestration and masterful musical development with Stravinsky's neo-classical tendancies (without the edgy harmonies), mixed with one or two surprises such as a chorus of gamelans, that makes this CD full of just about everything that is worth while having in music.
Highly recommended!
Customer Rating: 
Summary: Do you want this music?
Comment: There is no doubt that these are brilliant performances. But the question in my mind is how much do you want three discs of this music? The works are well crafted, certainly, and I suppose they do sparkle. There is often invention that is both surprising and delightful. But after a while one wishes for a bit more of the "red meat" of truly great romantic repertoire. I have something of a soft spot for Saint Saens but discovering his works can be a bit of a mixed experience - sometimes joyful and sometimes almost cringing (at a particularly banal tune, for example). In the end I am not sorry I bought these records and will return to them with pleasure in some moods. But there are byroads of the repertoire that I have mined with more consistently satisfying results than I have here.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Another triumph for Stephen Hough!
Comment: If you enjoyed his Rachmaninov set you will certainly enjoy this. It is Stephen Hough at his brilliant best, and is a delight from start to finish. Hopefully it will help to rehabilitate these delightful but neglected concertos.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Music to lift the spirits
Comment: These recordings are an unqualified success. Hough plays with complete understanding, allowing these works to sparkle and shine. He avoids bombast and in so doing, brings out the real strengths of these concertos.One thinks of Ravel rather than Liszt. And what a fine series they are! There is craftsmanship, refinement, colour, wit, and tenderness in all works. The 2nd and 4th are well known, but the first is a new delight for me, with a quite remarkable second movement. And why the 3rd has so often been dismissed as the weakest of the set is a mystery when it is heard in a performance as compelling as this. Full marks to Hyperion, Stephen Hough, Sakari Oramo and the CBSO. Anyone familiar with these concertos will delight in these new performances, and those investigating them for the first time are fortunate indeed! The concertos come with four short pieces for piano and orchestra, all well crafted and beautifully executed.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Sparkling performances by a master pianist
Comment: Like many lovers of the romantic French repertoire, I have been eagerly anticipating this release for some time. Hough amazes yet again with his effervescent touch and dazzling virtuosity - indeed, he seems to toss off these gems of the concerto repertoire with such nonchalant ease. How do his interpretations compare with the other leaders in the field, namely Roge, Collard and Biret? Consider all other versions well and truly trounced. Oramo and his merry band provide sterling support with a perfect feel for this music and a marvellous balance, thanks yet again to the Hyperion team. Without reservation, this is a great recording by one of the greatest pianists around. One expects accolades galore in days to come - take note, Gramophone!
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Editorial Reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: spirited, elegant... Saint-Saens!
Comment: It is hard to imagine a more sympathetic, nor indeed high spirited, homage to Saint-Saens than this marvellous recording. All five of the piano concertos have something to recommend them and I am glad that they are finally being appreciated on their own grounds. Long neglected, Concertos 1, 3, 4 and 5 are marvellous pieces, full of fun, elegance and poise. The recording itself is in a real class of its own, and this is a very worthy 'sister' of Hough's recent recording of Rachmaninoff's concertos.
Also present here are some smaller pieces, a little like Mozart's one movement rondos. Here, as in the Concertos, Mozart's presence can be felt. However it is the synthesis of Mozart's light orchestration and masterful musical development with Stravinsky's neo-classical tendancies (without the edgy harmonies), mixed with one or two surprises such as a chorus of gamelans, that makes this CD full of just about everything that is worth while having in music.
Highly recommended!
Customer Rating:
Summary: Do you want this music?
Comment: There is no doubt that these are brilliant performances. But the question in my mind is how much do you want three discs of this music? The works are well crafted, certainly, and I suppose they do sparkle. There is often invention that is both surprising and delightful. But after a while one wishes for a bit more of the "red meat" of truly great romantic repertoire. I have something of a soft spot for Saint Saens but discovering his works can be a bit of a mixed experience - sometimes joyful and sometimes almost cringing (at a particularly banal tune, for example). In the end I am not sorry I bought these records and will return to them with pleasure in some moods. But there are byroads of the repertoire that I have mined with more consistently satisfying results than I have here.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Another triumph for Stephen Hough!
Comment: If you enjoyed his Rachmaninov set you will certainly enjoy this. It is Stephen Hough at his brilliant best, and is a delight from start to finish. Hopefully it will help to rehabilitate these delightful but neglected concertos.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Music to lift the spirits
Comment: These recordings are an unqualified success. Hough plays with complete understanding, allowing these works to sparkle and shine. He avoids bombast and in so doing, brings out the real strengths of these concertos.One thinks of Ravel rather than Liszt. And what a fine series they are! There is craftsmanship, refinement, colour, wit, and tenderness in all works. The 2nd and 4th are well known, but the first is a new delight for me, with a quite remarkable second movement. And why the 3rd has so often been dismissed as the weakest of the set is a mystery when it is heard in a performance as compelling as this. Full marks to Hyperion, Stephen Hough, Sakari Oramo and the CBSO. Anyone familiar with these concertos will delight in these new performances, and those investigating them for the first time are fortunate indeed! The concertos come with four short pieces for piano and orchestra, all well crafted and beautifully executed.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Sparkling performances by a master pianist
Comment: Like many lovers of the romantic French repertoire, I have been eagerly anticipating this release for some time. Hough amazes yet again with his effervescent touch and dazzling virtuosity - indeed, he seems to toss off these gems of the concerto repertoire with such nonchalant ease. How do his interpretations compare with the other leaders in the field, namely Roge, Collard and Biret? Consider all other versions well and truly trounced. Oramo and his merry band provide sterling support with a perfect feel for this music and a marvellous balance, thanks yet again to the Hyperion team. Without reservation, this is a great recording by one of the greatest pianists around. One expects accolades galore in days to come - take note, Gramophone!
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