BaL 17.02.24 - Saint-Saëns: Symphony no. 3 in C minor Op. 78

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

10.30 am
Building a Library

Anna Lapwood chooses her favourite recording of Camille Saint-Saëns’s Symphony No. 3 in C minor, Op. 78 ‘Organ Symphony’.

Camille Saint-Saëns’s prodigious musical talent and long life gave him the distinction of having been mocked by Berlioz (”He knows everything, but lacks inexperience”) and dismissed by Debussy (as “the musician of tradition”).

At the age of 51, commissioned by the London Philharmonic Society, the ‘French Beethoven’ (as Gounod described him) was determined to write a masterpiece and his third and final symphony was a colossal success at its 1886 London premiere. Much recorded, with memorable tunes, dazzling orchestration, visceral excitement and grandeur (including an unforgettable organ entry) it still fills concert halls and thrills audiences today.

Available versions:-

Chubu Philharmonic Orchestra, Kazuyoshi Akiyama *
Moscow Symphony Orchestra, Antonio de Almeida *
St. Olaf Orchestra, Steven Amundson *
Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Ernest Ansermet
Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Daniel Barenboim
London Philharmonic Orchestra, Enrique Bátiz
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Sir Thomas Beecham
New York Philharmonic Orchestra, Leonard Bernstein *
American Symphony Orchestra, Leon Botstein *
Orchestre de l’Opéra Bastille, Myung-Whun Chung *
Orchestre de l’Opéra national de Paris, Myung-Whun Chung *
Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Myung-Whun Chung (DVD)
Paris Conservatoire Orchestra, André Cluytens
Oviedo Filarmonía, Marzio Conti *
New York Philharmonic, Sir Andrew Davis *
Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, James DePreist
Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, Charles Dutoit
Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, Charles Dutoit
Philadelphia Orchestra, Christoph Eschenbach *
Utah Symphony Orchestra, Thierry Fischer
Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Claus Peter Flor
City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Louis Fremaux
Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra, Stephen Gunzenhauser
Symphonie-Orchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Mariss Jansons
Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, Mariss Jansons
Orchestre Philharmonique de Liège, Jean-Jacques Kantorow (SACD)
Berliner Philharmoniker, Herbert von Karajan *
Berlin Philharmonic, James Levine
Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Lorin Maazel *
Orchestre National de France, Cristian Macelaru
Orchestre National de la Radiodiffusion Française, Jean Martinon
Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Eduardo Mata *
Lyon National Orchestra, Michael Matthes *
Berliner Philharmoniker, Zubin Mehta
Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, Zubin Mehta *
Seattle Symphony Orchestra, Ludovic Morlot
Boston Symphony Orchestra, Charles Munch *
New York Philharmonic Orchestra, Charles Munch *
Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, Kent Nagano
London Philharmonic Orchestra, Yannick Nézet-Séguin
Orchestre Métropolitain du Grand Montréal, Yannick Nézet-Séguin *
Philadelphia Orchestra, Eugene Ormandy
Philadelphia Orchestra, Eugene Ormandy
The Hague Philharmonic, Willem van Otterloo
Orchestre National de France, Seiji Ozawa
Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Antonio Pappano
Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Paul Paray
Orchestre du Capitole de Toulouse, Michel Plasson *
Orchestre de la Societe des Concerts du Conservatoire, Georges Prêtre *
Wiener Symphoniker, Georges Prêtre *
Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra, Bystrik Rezucha *
Les Siècles, François-Xavier Roth
London Philharmonic Orchestra, Geoffrey Simon
Orchestre National de Lyon, Leonard Slatkin (DVD/Blu-ray)
Malmö Symphony Orchestra, Marc Soustrot
Kansas City Symphony, Michael Stern (SACD)
USSR State Symphony Orchestra, Evgeny Svetlanov
Vienna State Opera Orchestra, Hans Swarowsky *
Ulster Orchestra, Yan Pascal Tortelier
NBC Symphony Orchestra, Arturo Toscanini
Capriccio Baroque Orchestra, Karen Valter (SACD)
Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra, Arvo Volmer *
Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, Edo de Waart (SACD)
San Francisco Symphony, Edo de Waart
Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Saarbrücken, Johannes Wildner *
Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Kazuki Yamada *

(* = download only)

[duncan]

Thanks Alpie.

Last covered in 2015, which feels like no time at all. There was much discussion of the fidelity of recording the organ part separately if I recall. This didn't dissuade Geoffrey Norris from picking Barenboim and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, recorded in Medinah Temple overdubbed with Gaston Litaize in Chartres.

[Pulcinella]

The BBC MM CD (Volume 8, Number 6) has David Goode as the organist, with the BBC Philharmonic conducted by Marin Alsop, recorded in Leeds Town Hall on 21 October 1999.

Pastoralguy may well know better than I can recall, but I think an Edinburgh Festival performance had the organ relayed from St Mary's (Episcopal or RC?) through speakers in the Usher Hall, and the soloist (Gillian Weir?) was then rushed to the hall just in time to appear on stage for the applause!

[pastoralguy]

The BBC MM CD (Volume 8, Number 6) has David Goode as the organist, with the BBC Philharmonic conducted by Marin Alsop, recorded in Leeds Town Hall on 21 October 1999.

Pastoralguy may well know better than I can recall, but I think an Edinburgh Festival performance had the organ relayed from St Mary's (Episcopal or RC?) through speakers in the Usher Hall, and the soloist (Gillian Weir?) was then rushed to the hall just in time to appear on stage for the applause!

Yes! I remember that well! Iirc she had a police escort since although St Mary’s isn’t far from the Usher Hall it’s a very busy intersection which can really snarl up. We heard the RSNO play it last season and the organ was extremely impressive!

[LMcD]

[QUOTE=Pulcinella;n1297747]The BBC MM CD (Volume 8, Number 6) has David Goode as the organist, with the BBC Philharmonic conducted by Marin Alsop, recorded in Leeds Town Hall on 21 October 1999. /QUOTE]

Coupled with the Piano Concerto No. 2 played by Kathryn Stott.

[cloughie]

Yes! I remember that well! Iirc she had a police escort since although St Mary’s isn’t far from the Usher Hall it’s a very busy intersection which can really snarl up. We heard the RSNO play it last season and the organ was extremely impressive!

https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/6fbeee4c45f24065aae96f0827a3aa0c

But was the Berlioz Te Deum nof SS3 - with Abbado conducting the LSO. ( I don’t recall Abbado ever doing SS3 but othes may know better).

[Pulcinella]

....

But was the Berlioz Te Deum nof SS3 - with Abbado conducting the LSO. ( I don’t recall Abbado ever doing SS3 but othes may know better).

I'm pretty sure that's not what I was thinking of, as I was living in Canada in 1980 so was probably unaware of that concert.

[smittims]

I was pleasantly surprised to find a nice clean copy of the original Toscanini HMV LP, as I didn't know he had recorded it. I well recall sneaking with a friend into the back of the Great Hall at Birmingham Universoiy over 50 years ago to see Louis Fremaux and the CBSO record their 'Studio 2' version. Apart from that I've never heard it live. Another favourite of mine is the Charles Munch, recorded in Symphony Hall, Boston, for many years a stereo demonstration disc.

I'm glad to see Beecham listed above. It was a BBC broadcast from the Royal Festival Hall in 1954, and the organist Denis Vaughan spent a lot of time the previous night 'voicing' the organ with Ralph Downes to make it sound more 'French'. According to a delightful anecdote of GR Sinclair, Saint-Saens did not like the sound of English organs. One of the pianists at the Beecham perfromance was Douglas Gamley, better-known for his work in light music.

[Sir Velo]

Xavier Roth, Pere et fils with Les Siecles for me have breathed new life into this old warhorse.

[HighlandDougie]

https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/6fbeee4c45f24065aae96f0827a3aa0c

But was the Berlioz Te Deum nof SS3 - with Abbado conducting the LSO. ( I don’t recall Abbado ever doing SS3 but othes may know better).

It doesn't seem like that long ago but I was at that concert in the Usher Hall. Definitely the Berlioz 'Te Deum' and, from memory, Debussy's 'Nocturnes'.

[cloughie]

It doesn't seem like that long ago but I was at that concert in the Usher Hall. Definitely the Berlioz 'Te Deum' and, from memory, Debussy's 'Nocturnes'.

Thanks HD for the confirmation - Nocturnes good progrmming making use of the presence of a chorus!

[smittims]

I suppose 'Nocturnes' ought to be programmed with 'the Planets' for the same reason , but I don't think that's been done. I imagine concert promoters are reluctant to programme works that use just part of a choir (men or women) for just part of a work. .

[pastoralguy]

It doesn't seem like that long ago but I was at that concert in the Usher Hall. Definitely the Berlioz 'Te Deum' and, from memory, Debussy's 'Nocturnes'.

Of course it was! Senior moment.

[Pulcinella]

Of course it was! Senior moment.

Oh dear! I really did think it was SS S3, not least as I wasn't in the country at the time of that Te Deum concert!

[Ein Heldenleben]

In my view the “ Organ Symphony “ doesn’t have enough organ in it . The final movement part is little more than a few common chords.