Bergen Filharmoniske Orkester & Neeme Järvi - Saint-Saëns: Cello Concertos, Le carnaval des animaux,...

Tracklist
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01. Cello Concerto No. 1 in A Minor, Op. 33, R. 193: I. Allegro non troppo
02. Cello Concerto No. 1 in A Minor, Op. 33, R. 193: II. Allegretto con moto
03. Cello Concerto No. 1 in A Minor, Op. 33, R. 193: III. Allegro non troppo
04. Cello Concerto No. 2 in D Minor, Op. 119: I. Allegro moderato e maestoso-Andante sostenuto
05. Cello Concerto No. 2 in D Minor, Op. 119: II. Allegro non troppo
06. Le carnaval des animaux, R. 125 (Arr. for 2 Pianos & Orchestra): I. Introduction et marche royale du lion
07. Le carnaval des animaux, R. 125 (Arr. for 2 Pianos & Orchestra): II. Poules et coqs
08. Le carnaval des animaux, R. 125 (Arr. for 2 Pianos & Orchestra): III. Hémiones
09. Le carnaval des animaux, R. 125 (Arr. for 2 Pianos & Orchestra): IV. Tortues
10. Le carnaval des animaux, R. 125 (Arr. for 2 Pianos & Orchestra): V. L'éléphant
11. Le carnaval des animaux, R. 125 (Arr. for 2 Pianos & Orchestra): VI. Kangourous
12. Le carnaval des animaux, R. 125 (Arr. for 2 Pianos & Orchestra): VII. Aquarium
13. Le Carnaval Des Animaux, R. 125 (Arr. For 2 Pianos & Orchestra): VIII. Personnages À Longues Oreilles
14. Le carnaval des animaux, R. 125 (Arr. for 2 Pianos & Orchestra): IX. Le coucou au fond des bois
15. Le carnaval des animaux, R. 125 (Arr. for 2 Pianos & Orchestra): X. Volière
16. Le carnaval des animaux, R. 125 (Arr. for 2 Pianos & Orchestra): XI. Pianistes
17. Le carnaval des animaux, R. 125 (Arr. for 2 Pianos & Orchestra): XII. Fossiles
18. Le Carnaval Des Animaux, R. 125 (Arr. For 2 Pianos & Orchestra): XIII. Le Cygne
19. Le carnaval des animaux, R. 125 (Arr. for 2 Pianos & Orchestra): XIV. Finale
20. Wedding Cake, Op. 76
21. Africa, Op. 89
The Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra and Neeme Järvi present this unusual collection of popular works by Saint-Saëns, for orchestra and piano or cello.
Truls Mørk, this season Artist in Residence with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, is the soloist in the two contrasted cello concertos. His 'seemingly flawless technical command' is tested in the suave, expressive, famous No. 1 as well as in the many taxing solo passages, huge leaps, and double-stopping flourishes of No. 2.
The indefatigable duo Louis Lortie and Hélène Mercier join in the posthumously published Carnival of the Animals, after a highly successful recording of Concertos by Poulenc with Edward Gardner, Disc of the Week in The Sunday Times. They offer the original version, which features a glass harmonica (normally substituted by a glockenspiel). Louis Lortie is also the soloist in the entertaining fantasia Africa, which incorporates folk tunes of the different countries in which it was composed and which is brought off with consummate zest, as well as in the most characteristic and probably challenging of the composer's keyboard pieces, the Caprice-Valse Wedding-cake, written for the second wedding of the composer's virtuosic pianist friend Caroline Montigny-Rémaury.