BaL 25.09.21/11.03.23 - Saint-Saëns: Carnival of the Animals

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

9.30 Building a Library
Sarah Devonald chooses her favourite recording of Camille Saint-Saëns’s The Carnival of the Animals.

Everyone* knows (*not true) the elegant gliding cello of The Swan from Saint-Saëns’s ever-popular Carnival of the Animals. In fact, fearing his 1868 musical menagerie would prevent him from being taken seriously as a composer, it was the only one of its 14 numbers that Saint-Saëns allowed to be published in his lifetime. Indeed, there is a lot of fun to be had as the procession of animals trundles by: lugubrious tortoises barely manage to get their feet off the ground to a slow-motion parody of Offenbach’s Can-Can, an elephant galumphs to a transposed version of Berlioz’s Dance of the Sylphs and the rattling bones of fossils echo Saint-Saëns’s own Danse macabre. Not to mention the regal lion, sparkling aquarium fish and braying donkeys (music critics?), all capped by a glittering finale. It’s been endlessly recorded, often attracting a starry line-up of soloists for its chamber ensemble forces, as well as in its perhaps less special orchestration.


Available versions:-

Britten-Pears Orchestra, Marin Alsop (DVD/Blu-ray))
Arco Baleno Ensemble
Marjan Rawicz, Walter Landauer, Hallé Orchestra, Sir John Barbirolli
Guillermo Salvador Snr, Guillermo Salvador Jnr, Orquesta Filarmónica de la Ciudad de México, Enrique Bátiz
Ruth Segal, Paula Robison, Naomi Segal, Paul Green, David Hopper, Gary Karr, Tony Cirone, New York Philharmonic Orchestra, Leonard Bernstein
Julian Reynolds, Peter Lockwood, Ensemble Concentus Bestiales, Julian Reynolds *
Roeland Hendrikx Ensemble, Felicia Bockstael
Karlheinz Böhm (narrator), Aloys Kontarsky, Alfons Kontarsky, Wolfgang Herzer, Aloys Kontarsky, Wiener Philharmoniker, Karl Böhm *
Hermione Gingold (narrator), Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Karl Böhm
BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Martyn Brabbins
Quasars Ensemble, Ivan Buffa
Pascal Rogé, Christina Ortiz, London Sinfonietta & Philharmonia Orchestra, Charles Dutoit
Nicholas Walker, Laura O’Gorman, Philharmonia Orchestra, Philip Ellis
Orchestre des Concerts Lamoureux, Jésus Etcheverry *
Marylène Dosse, Annie Petit, Württembergisches Kammerorchester Heilbronn, Jörg Faerber *
Hugh Downs (speaker), Samuel Lipman, Leo Litwin, Martin Hoherman, Boston Pops Orchestra
Arthur Fiedler *
Utah Symphony Orchestra, Thierry Fischer
Shura Cherkassky, Philharmonia Orchestra, Anatole Fistoulari
John Ogdon, Brenda Lucas, Hilary Robinson, Anthony Moroney, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Louis Frémaux
Ensemble Serenata Genève, Lova Golovtchiner *
St. Petersburg Radio & TV Symphony Orchestra, Stanislav Gorkovenko *
Ferhan & Ferzan Önder, Zürcher Kammerorchester, Howard Griffiths
Nata�a Majer, Ana Pi�pek, Jadranka Gasparovic, Cologne New Philharmonic, Volker Hartung *
Beatrice Lillie, Julius Katchen, Gary Graffman, London Symphony Orchestra, Skitch Henderson
Süher Pekinel, Güher Pekinel, Éric Levionnais, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Marek Janowski *
Louis Lortie, Hélène Mercier, Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, Neeme Järvi (SACD)
Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra, Vassil Kazandjiev *
Konrad Beikircher (narrator), HR Brass, Lutz Kohler *
Laszlo Varsanyi, Laszlo Almasy, Vera Denes, Imre Kovacs, Hungarian State Orchestra, Andras Korodi *
Hephzibah Menuhin, Abbey Simon, Philharmonia Orchestra, Efrem Kurtz
Marian Lapsansky , Peter Toperczer, Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra, Ondrej Lenard
Peter Schickele (narrator), Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Yoel Levi
Jon Kimura Parker, Orli Shaham, Jack Prelutsky (narrator), San Diego Symphony Orchestra, Jahja Ling *
Géza Anda, Béla Síki, Philharmonia Orchestra, Igor Markevitch
Katia Labeque, Marielle Labeque, Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Zubin Mehta
Nash Ensemble *
Lilian Kallir, Claude Frank, Philadelphia Orchestra, Eugene Ormandy *
Melissa Joan Hart (speaker), John Browning, Garrick Ohlsson, Jules Eskin, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Seiji Ozawa *
Daniele Rossi, Martha Argerich, Antonio Pappano, (narrated in French by Annie Dutoit ), Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Antonio Pappano
Richard Casey, Ian Buckle, Alexander Armstrong (narrator), Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Vasily Petrenko
Polnische Kammerphilharmonie (SACD/DVD Audio)
Mei Yi Foo, Ashley Wass, Britten Sinfonia, Clement Power
Aldo Ciccolini, Alexis Weissenberg, Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire, Georges Prêtre
Anne Martindale Williams, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, André Previn
Katia and Marielle Labèque, Berliner Philharmoniker, Sir Simon Rattle (DVD)
Pro Musica Orchestra Vienna, Ferdinand Roth
(Cincinnati Pops Orchestra, John Morris Russell *)
Academy of London, Richard Stamp *
Victor Aller, Harry Sukman, Eleanor Aller, Arthur Gleghorn, Concert Arts Orchestra, Felix Slatkin *
Mark Kruger, Janis Laurs, Anna Goldsworthy , Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, David Stanhope *
Amsterdam Symphony Orchestra, Peter Stern *
Henri Demarquette, Boris Berezovsky, Brigitte Engerer, Ensemble Orchestral de Paris, Joseph Swensen *
David Owen Norris, Gregory Shaverdian, I Musici de Montréal, Yuli Turovsky
London Symphony Orchestra, Barry Wordsworth *
Barbara Schöneberger (speaker), Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra, Raphaela Gromes, Ferhan & Ferzan Önder, Johannes Zurl


The Kanneh-Masons, with Michael Morpurgo and Olivia Colman
Lucas Jussen, Arthur Jussen, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Stéphane Denève *
Renaud Capuçon, Gautier Capuçon, Frank Braley, Michel Dalberto, Emmanuel Pahud, Paul Meyer, David Guerrier, Marie-Pierre Langlamet, Béatrice Muthelet, Esther Hoppe, Janne Saksala, Florent Jodelet *
Mischa Maisky , Irena Grafenauer, Martha Argerich, Edith Salmen-Weber, Tabea Zimmermann, Georg Maximilian Hörtnagel, Isabelle van Keulen, Eduard Brunner, Nelson Freire, Gidon Kremer, Markus Steckeler
Quintessenz - Leipziger Querflötenensemble
Martha Argerich, Alexandre Debrus, Andrey Baranov, Corrado Giuffredi, Alfred Rutz, Enrico Fagone, Lilya Zilberstein, Gregorio Di Trapani, Lyda Chen, Michael Guttman.
Hans Krul, Wim Vos, Mimi Dekkers, Henk de Graf, Jo Hagen, Daniel Wayenberg, Hans Oudenaarden, Daniel Quartet *
Juri Tetzlaff , ProFive *
Ensemble Musique Oblique *
Gaby Casadesus , Yo-Yo Ma, Philippe Entremont, Alain Marion, Michel Arrignon, Gerard Causse, Régis Pasquier, Michel Cerruti, Michel Cals, Yan Pascal Tortelier, Gabin Lauridon
Vilija Poskute, Tomas Daukantas, Zurich Tonhalle Orchestra (SACD)
State Symphony Orchestra, Karl Eliasberg, Emil Gilels, Yakov Zak, Daniil Shafran *

(* = download only)

[PHS]

Alas, no mention of my introduction to this work. The Scottish National Orchestra conducted by Sir Alexander Gibson on CfP.

[Roslynmuse]

Alas, no mention of my introduction to this work. The Scottish National Orchestra conducted by Sir Alexander Gibson on CfP.

I was just thinking the same. Peter Katin and Philip Fowke. Great LP, with Bizet Jeux d'enfants and Ravel Mother Goose as couplings.

[LMcD]

Wot no Noel Coward?

[Pulcinella]

I thought that Dame Edna had done this, but no; it was Peter and the wolf, Babar, and Britten's YPG. The equivalent Naxos release with Carnival of the animals appropriately has Johnny Morris as the narrator.

[LMcD]

I thought that Dame Edna had done this, but no; it was Peter and the wolf, Babar, and Britten's YPG. The equivalent Naxos release with Carnival of the animals appropriately has Johnny Morris as the narrator.

I forgot to credit Ogden Nash who provided Noel with such lovely lines. 'In the world of mules / There are no rules'

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

I forgot to credit Ogden Nash who provided Noel with such lovely lines. 'In the world of mules / There are no rules'

I think Hermione Gingold used the Nash rhymes too (VPO/Bohm).

[Bryn]

This one also uses Nash's poems:

What a cast of reciters!

Available as an audiobook download from https://www.amazon.co.uk/Carnival-of...8051834&sr=8-8

[vinteuil]

.

I love the Ogden Nash pomes for this -

The Elephant
Elephants are useful friends,
Equipped with handles at both ends.
They have a wrinkled moth proof hide,
Their teeth are upside down, outside,
If you think the elephant preposterous,
You’ve probably never seen a
rhinosterous.

Birds
Puccini was Latin, and Wagner Teutonic,
And birds are incurable philharmonic,
Suburban yards and rural vistas
Are filled with avian Andrew Sisters.
The skylark sings a roundelay,
The crow sings “The Road to Mandalay,”
The nightingale sings a lullaby,
And the sea gull sings a gullaby.
That’s what shepherds listened to in
Arcadia
Before somebody invented the radia.
.

[Pulcinella]

Alas, no mention of my introduction to this work. The Scottish National Orchestra conducted by Sir Alexander Gibson on CfP.

I was just thinking the same. Peter Katin and Philip Fowke. Great LP, with Bizet Jeux d'enfants and Ravel Mother Goose as couplings.

It made it to CD.
Used copies available (and indeed a new copy!) here:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Carnival-Animals-Halle-Gibson-Loughran/dp/B00005Q5LA/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=gibson+saint+saens&qid=1618051904&s=music&sr=1-1

And even more cheaply in another (earlier?) incarnation on CD here:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Carnival-Animals-Camille-Saint-Saëns/dp/B000026PY7/ref=sr_1_7?dchild=1&keywords=gibson+saint+saens&qid=1618051904&s=music&sr=1-7

[Darloboy]

Last time out, in July 98, Chris de Souza made Maurice Andre, Michel Beroff, Jean-Philippe Collard, Alain Moglia, Jacques Cazauran, Michel Debost, Claude Desurmont, Guy- Joël Cipriani, Gérard Pérotin, Le Trio a cordes francais his first choice for the chamber version, with Maisky, Grafenauer, Argerich & co + Entremont as joint runners-up. Levi was recommended version with narration. Plasson with the Toulouse Orchestra was orchestral choice.

[jayne lee wilson]

Intriguing fresh take on this, with lots of new animals to enjoy!

https://www.qobuz.com/gb-en/album/le-bestiaire-roeland-hendrikx-ensemble/fqdoend4y3t2a

Do check out the Apollinaire poems in the notes....

[Serial_Apologist]

I thought it was composed in 1886, around the time of the Organ Symphony, not 1968. Could be wrong, of course. Either way, Saint-Saëns comes up with some extrardinarily advanced harmonies in one or two places, under the "cover" of musical onomatopoeia, I suppose you could call it, in the "long ears" movement and some vociferously unresolved chickens, but also a bitonally-drifting middle passage in "The Cuckoo". These things aren't often remarked on, but for me, as a child, they were one of the first thrilling excursions into the harmonically unorthodox.

[Serial_Apologist]

Intriguing fresh take on this, with lots of new animals to enjoy!

https://www.qobuz.com/gb-en/album/le-bestiaire-roeland-hendrikx-ensemble/fqdoend4y3t2a

Do check out the Apollinaire poems in the notes....

Poulenc's "Bestiary" is pretty good, too!

[LMcD]

I thought it was composed in 1886, around the time of the Organ Symphony, not 1968. Could be wrong, of course. Either way, Saint-Saëns comes up with some extrardinarily advanced harmonies in one or two places, under the "cover" of musical onomatopoeia, I suppose you could call it, in the "long ears" movement and some vociferously unresolved chickens, but also a bitonally-drifting middle passage in "The Cuckoo". These things aren't often remarked on, but for me, as a child, they were one of the first thrilling excursions into the harmonically unorthodox.

He would have been 133 had he still been around in 1968.