Saint-Saëns: Piano Concertos Nos. 3, 5 & Other Works Louis Lortie, BBC Philharmonic Orchestra & Edward Gardner

• Camille Saint-Saëns (1835 - 1921):
• 1 Rhapsodie d'Auvergne, Op. 73, R. 201 (Version for Piano & Orchestra) 09:33
• Piano Concerto No. 3 in E-Flat Major, Op. 29, R. 191:
• 2 Piano Concerto No. 3 in E-Flat Major, Op. 29, R. 191: I. Moderato assai 12:17
• 3 Piano Concerto No. 3 in E-Flat Major, Op. 29, R. 191: II. Andante 06:24
• 4 Piano Concerto No. 3 in E-Flat Major, Op. 29, R. 191: III. Allegro non troppo 07:08
• Camille Saint-Saëns:
• 5 Allegro appassionato in C-Sharp Minor, Op. 70, R. 37 (Version for Piano & Orchestra) 05:48
• Piano Concerto No. 5 in F Major, Op. 103, R. 205 "Egyptian":
• 6 Piano Concerto No. 5 in F Major, Op. 103, R. 205 "Egyptian": I. Allegro animato 09:40
• 7 Piano Concerto No. 5 in F Major, Op. 103, R. 205 "Egyptian": II. Andante 10:31
• 8 Piano Concerto No. 5 in F Major, Op. 103, R. 205 "Egyptian": III. Molto allegro 05:27
• Total Runtime 01:06:48

Info for Saint-Saëns: Piano Concertos Nos. 3, 5 & Other Works

Following the acclaimed release of Piano Concertos Nos 1, 2, and 4 in September 2018, Louis Lortie completes his survey of Saint-Saens’s piano concertos with this recording of Concertos Nos 3 and 5, once again with Edward Gardner and the BBC Philharmonic. Composed in 1869, the Third Concerto received its premiere in Leipzig with the composer at the piano, and met an extremely hostile reception (it even incited punch-ups in the corridors!). Most probably due to the composer’s harmonic experimentation, this might also have followed from the stylistic divergence from his (extremely successful) Second Concerto. His final Piano Concerto, No. 5, written some twenty years after the Fourth, was composed largely during his stay in Egypt during the winter of 1885 and spring of 1886. Saint-Saens wrote it to play himself at the jubilee concert celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of his performing debut in the Salle Pleyel. The second movement’s initial theme is based on a Nubian love song that he had heard sung by boatmen on the Nile. This, and later the impressionistic evocation of the sound of frogs and crickets, led to the adoption of the nickname ‘Egyptian.’ Lortie completes the album with two smaller works for piano and orchestra, both from 1884. The Rhapsodie d’Auvergne is an impressionistic evocation of the spectacular part of central France referenced in the title; the Allegro appassionato offers a virtuosic romp for soloist and orchestra alike.

Louis Lortie, piano
BBC Philharmonic
Edward Gardner, conductor

Louis Lortie
For over three decades, French-Canadian pianist Louis Lortie has performed world-wide, building a reputation as one of the world’s most versatile pianists. He extends his interpretative voice across a broad spectrum of repertoire, and his performances and award-winning recordings attest to his remarkable musical range.

In demand on five continents, Lortie has established long-term partnerships with orchestras such as the BBC Symphony Orchestra, BBC Philharmonic, Orchestre National de France and Dresden Philharmonic in Europe, and the Philadelphia Orchestra, Dallas Symphony, San Diego Symphony and St Louis Symphony in the US. In his native Canada he regularly performs with the major orchestras in Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, Ottawa and Calgary. Further afield, collaborations include the Shanghai Symphony, the Hong Kong Philharmonic and the National Symphony Orchestra of Taiwan, and the Adelaide and Sydney Symphony Orchestras. Regular partnerships with conductors include, among others, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Edward Gardner, Sir Andrew Davis, Jaap Van Zweden, Simone Young, Antoni Wit and Thierry Fischer.

In recital and chamber music, Louis Lortie appears in the world’s most prestigious concert halls and festivals, including London’s Wigmore Hall, the Philharmonie de Paris, Carnegie Hall, Chicago Symphony Hall, the Beethovenfest Bonn and Liszt Festival Raiding. Louis Lortie is co-founder and Artistic Director of the LacMus International Festival on Lake Como and a Master in Residence at The Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel of Brussels. Together with fellow pianist Hélène Mercier, as the Lortie-Mercier duo, he has also shed new light on the repertoire for four hands and two pianos both in the concert hall and on several best-selling recordings.

Special projects for 2019/20 season include performances of Liszt ‘complete Années de Pèlerinage in one evening at the Beethoven Festspiele and CAL Perofrmances. Celebrating Beethoven’ special anniversary in 2020, he will perform a complete sonata cycle in Montreal and Waterloo (Belgium) as well as a complete concerto cycle with the New-Jersey Symphony and Xian Zhang.

A prolific recording artist, Lortie’s thirty-year relationship with Chandos Records has produced a catalogue of over 45 recordings on the label, covering repertoire from Mozart to Stravinsky, including a complete Beethoven sonata cycle and the complete Liszt ‘Années de pèlerinage’, which was named as one of the top ten recordings of 2012 by the New Yorker. His recording of the Lutosławski Piano Concerto with Edward Gardner and the BBC Symphony Orchestra received high praise, as have his Chopin recordings. In duet with Hélène Mercier, he recorded Carnival of the Animals with Neeme Jarvi and the Bergen Philharmonic and Vaughan-Williams’ Concerto for Two Pianos as well as Rachmaninov’s complete works for two pianos. Current recording projects include the five Saint-Saëns piano concertos with Edward Gardner and BBC Philharmonic, solo piano works by Fauré and the complete works of Chopin. He has also recorded two acclaimed CDs with violinist Augustin Dumay for Onyx Classics.

Louis Lortie studied in Montreal with Yvonne Hubert (a pupil of the legendary Alfred Cortot), in Vienna with Beethoven specialist Dieter Weber, and subsequently with Schnabel disciple Leon Fleisher. In 1984, he won First Prize in the Busoni Competition and the same year he was a prizewinner at the Leeds Competition.

Booklet for Saint-Saëns: Piano Concertos Nos. 3, 5 & Other Works