Saint-Saëns Edition
$160.00
Out of Stockadd to cart
CAMILLE SAINT-SAENS
Saint-Saëns Edition
Victoria de los Angeles, Marie-Claire Alain, Maurice Andre, Michel Beroff, Frank Braley, Gautier Capucon, Stephen Hough, Alexandre Tharaud, and more
[ Warner Classics / 34 CD Box Set ]
Release Date: Friday 15 October 2021
Over a remarkably long and illustrious career, Camille Saint-Saëns thrilled audiences around the world as a pianist and organist, shaped the course of musical life in France, and enriched a multitude of genres with some 600 works, all bearing witness to the mastery of his craft. Setting his best-known compositions in their dazzlingly diverse context, this edition invites exploration and discovery. It spans more than a century of recording history, encompassing a host of great instrumentalists, singers, conductors and orchestras, many of them from France. Setting the pace, in performances from as early as 1904, is the composer himself.
The release of this edition marks 100 years since the death of the prominent French composer Camille Saint-Saëns (1835-1921). Born in Paris in 1835 Saint-Saëns was a child prodigy as a composer - first work at 3 - and pianist - first concert at 10.
A prolific composer of remarkable longevity he produced around 600 diversified compositions: a dozen operas, five symphonies, four symphonic poems, five piano concertos, three violin concertos, two cello concertos, instrumental and genre pieces, incidental music, chamber music, oratorios, a Mass, a requiem, odes, cantatas, choruses and a hundred or so songs with piano or orchestral accompaniment.
At the start of the twentieth century, Saint-Saëns was by far the most-performed living composer, both in France and beyond its borders. His catalogue includes numerous masterpieces, some used as world-renowned jingles and background music: "Aquarium" from Carnaval des animaux is the curtain-raiser for every film shown at the Cannes Festival.
An exceptional performer, a pianist idolised by audiences and an incomparable organist, his reputation made him demanded everywhere: in addition to his native country he toured in the US, UK, Germany, Canary Islands, Egypt, Algeria… He was involved in educating new audiences and developing the French music repertoire. He was the teacher of André Messager and Gabriel Fauré.
The Saint-Saëns Edition: An authoritative and representative survey of Saint-Saëns's music in superlative interpretations by an array of outstanding musicians, including some of today's leading Erato / Warner Classics artists and Saint-Saëns himself as historical bonuses.
The huge range of works included in this 34-CD anthology will enable the listener to embark on a long-distance journey through the most varied of musical landscapes. The edition comprises all major works and less frequently heard smaller works.
2 CDs illustrate the popularity of Saint-Saëns works transcribed for different instrumentations.
The box contains materials especially remastered in HD for the occasion and premieres on CD:
- Complete Solo Organ Works ∙ Daniel Roth (CD 19-20, premiere)
- Études for piano, op.52 & op.111, Mazurka no.3, Valse mignonne, Valse gaie ∙ François-René Duchâble (CD 17, premiere)
- Fantaisie for harp, op.95 ∙ Marielle Nordmann (CD 16, PREMIERE)
- Organ Symphony ∙ Maurice Duruflé, Orchestre du Théatre des Champs-Elysées, Ernest Bour (CD 32)
- Suite algérienne ∙ Orchestre National de la Radiodiffusion Française, Louis Fourestier (CD 32)
Warner Classics has the largest catalogue of Saint-Saëns recordings and can offer an unrivalled edition of his works.
Historical bonuses
As much as 8 CDs are devoted to historical recordings, dating from 1904 to 1957, with Saint-Saëns appearing as pianist - he was one of the very first composers to be captured on disc in 1904 - on piano rolls and acoustic recordings.
A luxury boxset in the same vein as the Debussy, Berlioz, Ravel and Stravinsky boxes
Wallets are illustrated with paintings by Monet, Degas and Caillebotte. The booklet includes a comprehensive essay by Saint-Saëns French specialist, Marie-Gabrielle Soret. A researcher, musicologist, chief conservator at Bibliothèque nationale de France, she just published a rich and documented biography of Saint-Saëns and curated the forthcoming exhibition at the Paris Opera.
"Arriving in time to mark the centenary of his death, this is more than merely a sensible collection. It presents some of the very best recordings of the composer's music ever made" MusicWeb
Performers include:
Natalie Dessay
Jose van Dam
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau
Veronique Gens
Rita Gorr
Philippe Jaroussky
Felicity Lott
Jose Luccioni
Christa Ludwig
Lily Pons
Georges Thill
Ninon Vallin
Jon Vickers
Marie-Claire Alain
Maurice Andre
Michel Beroff
Frank Braley
Gautier Capucon
Renaud Capucon
Bertrand Chamayou
Olivier Charlier
Camille Saint-Saens
Alexandre Tharaud
Jacques Thibaud
Paul Tortelier
Radovan Vlatkovic
Groupe instrumental de Paris
Quatuor Kandinsky
Quatuor Pascal
Conductors:
Vladimir Ashkenazy
John Barbirolli
Ernest Bour
Lionel Bringuier
Gustave Cloez
Andre Cluytens
Piero Coppola
Michel Corboz
Carl Davis
Pierre Dervaux
Louis Fourestier
Jean Fournet
Louis Fremaux
Carlo Maria Giulini
Daniel Harding
Jean-Jacques Kantorow
Jean Martinon
Charles Munch
Michel Plasson
Georges Pretre
Andre Previn
Christophe Rousset
Saulius Sondeckis
Jean Sourisse
Tracks:
Africa - fantasy for piano and orchestra, op.89
Allegro appassionato, op.70
Allegro appassionato in B minor, op.43
Bassoon Sonata in G major, op.168
Benediction nuptiale, op.9
Berceuse in B flat major, op.38
Caprice andalous in G major, op.122
Caprice sur des airs danois et russes, op.79
Caprice sur les airs de Ballet d'Alceste de Gluck (arr. Debussy)
Carnival of the Animals (arr. Carl Davis, Hiawyn Oram)
Carnival of the Animals (chamber version)
Carnival of the Animals
Cavatine, op.144
Cello Concerto no.1 in A minor, op.33 (arr. Nakariakov for flugelhorn)
Cello Concerto no.1 in A minor, op.33
Cello Sonata no.1 in C minor, op.32
Cello Sonata no.2 in F major, op.123
Choeurs (2), op.68
Clair de lune
Clarinet Sonata in E flat major, op.167
Cypres et Lauriers, op.156
Danse macabre (song)
Danse macabre, op.40 (arr. Edwin Lemare)
Danse macabre, op.40
El Desdichado
Elegie, op.143
Elegie, op.160
Elevation ou Communion in E major, op.13
Etienne Marcel: Ballet Music (trans. Debussy for piano duet)
Etudes (6), op.52
Etudes (6), op.111
Etudes (6) for the left hand, op.135
Extase
Fantaisie in A major, op.124
Fantaisie no.1 in E flat major
Fantaisie no.2 in D flat major, op.101
Fantaisie no.3 in C major, op.157
Fantasie for harp, op.95
Havanaise, op.83
Henry VIII
» O cruel souvenir! (Act 4)
Improvisations (7), op.150
Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso, op.28 (arr. Debussy)
Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso, op.28 (arr. Georges Bizet)
Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso, op.28
L'Attente
La Cloche
La Jeunesse d'Hercule, op.50
La Muse et le poete, op.132
La Princesse jaune (The Yellow Princess), op.30
» Overture
Le Lever de la lune
Le Pas d'armes du Roi Jean
Le Rouet d'Omphale, op.31
Le Timbre d'argent
» Le bonheur est chose legere
Le Vent dans la plaine
Les Cloches de la mer
Les Cloches du soir in E flat major, op.85 (arr. F. Ronchini)
Marche religieuse, op.107
Mazurka no.3 in B minor, op.66
Melodies persanes, op.26
» no.6 Tournoiement (Songe d'opium)
Menuet (Marquise, vous-en souvenez-vous)
Messe a 4 voix, op.4
Morceau de concert in F minor, op.94
Morceau de concert in G major, op.62
Morceau de concert in G major for harp and orchestra, op.154
Oboe Sonata in D major, op.166
Odelette in D major, op.162
Oratorio de Noel, op.12
» Tecum principium (arr. for piano trio)
Parysatis
» Le Rossignol et la Rose
Pastorale
Phaeton, op.39
Piano Concerto no.1 in D major, op.17
Piano Concerto no.2 in G minor, op.22
Piano Concerto no.3 in E flat major, op.29
Piano Concerto no.4 in C minor, op.44
Piano Concerto no.5 in F major, op.103 'Egyptian'
Piano Quartet in B flat major, op.41
Piano Quintet in A minor, op.14
Piano Trio no.1 in F major, op.18
Piano Trio no.2 in E minor, op.92
Preludes and Fugues (3), op.99
Preludes and Fugues (3), op.109
Prelude to 'Le Deluge', op.45
Priere for cello and piano, op.158
Reverie
Rhapsodie d'Auvergne for piano and orchestra, op.73
Rhapsodie d'Auvergne for solo piano, op.73
Rhapsodies (3) sur des cantiques bretons, op.7
Romance in C major, op.48
Romance in D flat major, op.37 (trans. flute)
Romance in D flat major, op.37
Romance in D major, op.51
Romance in F major, op.36
Saltarelle, op.74
Samson et Dalila, op.47 (highlights)
Samson et Dalila, op.47
Scherzo for 2 pianos, op.87
Septet in E flat major, op.65
Si vous n'avez rien a me dire
Sonnet
Spartacus
String Quartet no.1 in E minor, op.112
String Quartet no.2 in G major, op.153
Suite Algerienne, op.60
Suite for cello and piano, op.16
» Serenade
Suite in D major for orchestra, op.49
Symphony in A major
Symphony in F major 'Urbs Roma'
Symphony no.1 in E flat major, op.2
Symphony no.2 in A minor, op.55 (trans. Debussy for piano duet)
Symphony no.2 in A minor, op.55
Symphony no.3 in C minor, op.78 'Organ Symphony'
Tableaux symphoniques (3) d'apres La Foi, op.130
Tarentelle in A minor, op.6
Une flute invisible
Une nuit a Lisbonne, op.63
Valse caprice for piano and strings, op.76 'Wedding Cake'
Valse gaie, op.139
Valse mignonne in E flat major, op.104
Valse nonchalante, op.110
Violin Concerto no.1 in A major, op.20
Violin Concerto no.2 in C major, op.58
Violin Concerto no.3 in B minor, op.61
Violin Sonata no.1 in D minor, op.75
Violin Sonata no.2 in E flat major, op.102
Violons dans le soir
Bach, Johann Sebastian
Partita for solo violin no.1 in B minor, BWV1002
» IV Bourree (arr. Saint-Saens)
