"what is wrong with Saint Saens?"

[aka Calum Da Jazbo]

a quote from an interview with Stephen Isserlis i do believe from a year or so ago ..... and on the basis of Rachel Gough (bassoon), Julius Drake (piano) performing his bassoon sonata this am i'd have to say not a lot ....really delightful piece very impressively played ...

[french frank]

I bought a highly praised recording of the first cello concerto and it was the only CD I've ever placed quietly in the charity bag. In fairness, I think it was the performance that displeased, though given the plaudits it received I won't mention who the player was (it wasn't Isserlis).

But being brought up on only two recordings at school - Carnival of the Animals and Danse Macabre - I couldn't claim to know his work very well.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

....really delightful piece ...

I've never heard the Bassoon Sonata, Calum, but this statement sums up my attitude to all the pieces by Saint-Saens that I have.

[Northender]

I have a 2-CD set (CACD 1017) that includes chamber works for woodwinds (their choice of plural) - not remarkable pieces, but pleasant enough. Last night, as it happens, I was listening to Op.79, the Caprice on Danish and Russian Airs.

[cloughie]

I've never heard the Bassoon Sonata, Calum, but this statement sums up my attitude to all the pieces by Saint-Saens that I have.

By now overplayed and 'bleeding chunked' very often, but the thrill of hearing his third symphony for the first time all those years - it was just one of those works. Despite its overexposure I still love it. I also like the Septet.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

By now overplayed and 'bleeding chunked' very often, but the thrill of hearing his third symphony for the first time all those years - it was just one of those works. Despite its overexposure I still love it.

[LeMartinPecheur]

I remember that in the 70s at uni I heard the oboe sonata several times played by students. I knew I wasn't really allowed to like it because it was trivial/ facile but I did anyway

Seems to me that at the very minimum S-S could generally write a decent, often a very mememorable, tune, and while his music isn't very Germanic and highly developmental, it isn't just tunes strung together either. I picked up his symphonies no's 1 & 2 on a Martinon LP recently and while not as striking/ high in novelty-factor as the 3rd I find them highly agreeable.

Is there something a little odd in the way that his solo violin works like the Havanaise and the Introduction & Rondo Capriccioso, and even the 3rd vln concerto, seem to have a better hold in the repertoire than his works for piano (his own instrument) and orch? Even with 2 sets of the pf conc's on my shelves I confess I probably wouldn't recognise one if I heard it unannounced.

[Rolmill]

Is there something a little odd in the way that his solo violin works like the Havanaise and the Introduction & Rondo Capriccioso, and even the 3rd vln concerto, seem to have a better hold in the repertoire than his works for piano (his own instrument) and orch? Even with 2 sets of the pf conc's on my shelves I confess I probably wouldn't recognise one if I heard it unannounced.

I would have thought the 2nd piano concerto (G minor) is at least as well known as the 3rd VC? It's a marvellous piece, quite often programmed, and was a particular favourite of Artur Rubinstein. The 4th PC is also given the occasional airing in concert and on R3, I think.

The word "delightful" seems to recur when discussing S-S' music, and I think that's appropriate. I would throw the piano trios into the mix (I have a rather good Naxos recording), as well as some attractive orchestral pieces (e.g. suite, symphonic poems) and concertante works (e.g. various morceaux de concert for Harp, Horn, Violin).

For me, S-S rarely fails to deliver enjoyment and satisfaction - I even like Samson et Dalila (though I find it helps to think of it more as an oratorio than an opera).

[french frank]

I don't know how I forgot the PCs. One of my first ever purchases was an LP of Philippe Entremont playing the 2nd and 4th.

That dancing Allegro scherzando is one of those tunes that seems always to have existed complete, and the composer just 'found'. Trawling quickly through YouTube, I like Jeanne Marie Darré (?!), quicker than Rubinstein, much lighter than Hamelin (second movement begins at 10'38").

[Jonathan]

In addition to owning alll of the symphonies, concerti (piano, violin and 'cello) and large chunk of the chamber music, I've recently bought and been listening to volumes 1 and 2 of the piano music releases on the Grand Piano label. So, to answer the original question at the start of this thread, I can answer "nothing at all"

[Nick Armstrong]

third symphony ... Despite its overexposure I still love it.

Like you and ferns, it's one of those war horses I'm always glad to hear clopping by. I started a thread about welcome warhorses a while back - if I didn't mention SS3, I should have done.

[David-G]

I have vivid memories of the wonderful Samson et Dalila at Covent Garden, with beautiful set and costume designs by Sydney Nolan. I saw this several times over the years. Sadly it is now quite a few years since it last appeared there.