Father and son Kantorow in Saint-Saens

Having watched the semi-finals of the Queen Elisabeth violin competition in Brussels, I noticed that the conductor there was Jean-Jacques Kantorow. As he was a solo-violinist for many years, he was a perfect accompanist for all the candidates in that contest. Almost at the same time someone attended me to a new CD by his piano playing son Alexandre Kantorow, who performed three of the five piano concerto’s bij Saint-Saens. Very fine performances and the not so often recorded third receives the best and most convincing performance I have ever heard! I thought it would be a nice idea to combine Jean-Jacques Kantorow’s recording of violin works by Saint-Saens with the new recording of him and his son.

Track 01-03 Piano Concerto No. 3 in E flat major, Op. 29 (1869)

Track 04-06 Violin Concerto No.3 in B minor, Op.61 (1880)

Track 07-08 Piano Concerto No.4 in C minor, Op. 44 (1875)

Track 09 Caprice d’après l’Étude en forme de Valse, Op.52 (for violin and orchestra, 1872)

Track 10 Caprice andalous, Op.122 (for violin and orchestra, 1904)

Track 11 Prélude from ‘Le déluge’, Op.45 (1875)

Track 12-14 Piano Concerto No.5 in F major, Op. 103, ‘L’Égyptien’ (1896)

Tapiola Sinfonietta

Alexandre Kantorow, piano (Tracks 01-03, 07-08 and12-14)

Jean-Jacques Kantorow, violin (Tracks 04-06, 09,10 and 11)

Jean-Jacques Kantorow, conductor (Tracks 01-03, 07-08 and 12-14)

Kees Bakels, conductor (Tracks 04-06, 09,10 and 11)

https://open.spotify.com/user/otterhouse/playlist/0Bjw0wmeA0ZiA1YAlr85xZ?si=Pr-D2kAPSsqNUSu7gMrasw (Spotify Webplayer link)

Another Milstein on the violin… Maria Milstein

This recital stupefied me. I started with the Saint-Saens sonata (track 5, try it yourself!) and immediately I wondered if this was an underrated masterpiece or that I witnessed a miraculous performance. After hearing the complete CD, I think it is the latter. Glorious tone, spectacular accuracy and thoughtful, electrifying performances. And no, she is NOT related to Nathan Milstein, but the granddaughter of Yakov (Yaakov) Milstein, musicologist, professor at the Moscow conservatory and lecturer of oa Bella Davidovich and Elisabeth Leonskaja…

The “theme” of recital CD seems to be music that is attached to Marcel Proust’s recherche du temps perdu, although it’s hard to find how and why that has been established. Nevermind, the playing is awesome, the program original. She is accompanied by her sister, Nathalia Milstein. 

As an extra, an older recording by Maria Milstein and cellist Noelle Weidmann in rarely performed 1910 work by Saint-Saens. 

Tracks 01-03 Gabriel Pierné - Sonate pour violon et piano en ré mineur opus 36 (1900)
Tracks 04 Reynaldo Hahn - À Chloris (1916)
Tracks 05-08 Camille Saint-Saëns - Sonate pour violon et piano n°1 en ré mineur opus 75 (1885)

Track 09 Reynaldo Hahn - 7 Chansons grises, no 5,  L’Heure Exquise (1887-90)
Tracks 10-12 Claude Debussy - Sonate pour violon et piano (1916-7)
Maria Milstein, violin

Nathalia Milstein, piano

Rec 2017 

Track 13 Camille Saint-Saëns: La muse et le poète violon, cello e Orchestre in mi minor, Op. 132 (1910)

Orchestre Philharmonique de Liège

Christian Arming

Noelle Weidmann (cello), Maria Milstein (violin)

Rec 2013

https://open.spotify.com/user/otterhouse/playlist/2Hrgs5MYMT25vQudRM558W (Webplayer link)

Nathalia and Maria Milstein

Saint-Saens is a good and inventive composer!

Recently, a Dutch politician wrote on Twitter:

“Tonight I am listening to the piano concerts of Saint Saëns.

A 2nd rate composer, but in everything you feel: his time was better than ours.”

For several reasons I disagree with him. At that time one could *only* hear music composed until that period (including the long forgotten kitsch composed in that period). 

Only if you were very wealthy (not much people then) you were able to hear it and of course you had to survive wars, typhoid, cholera and other inconveniences of that period…

But, what shocked me most, was the disdain for Saint-Saens very original piano concerto’s…!!!

In form and orchestration especially the 2nd, 4th and 5th concertos are highly original and in hearing upon hearing you still will be marveled by the inventiveness of Camille. 

I have made a playlist of these three concerto’s, which are very dear to me. 

First a 1904 “instruction manual” played by Camille Saint-Sains himself of his 2nd piano concerto. Note the left hand playing. Not many pianists play it that way anymore.  

Then, a surprise; a Danish pianist called Victor Schiøler who in 1953 delivered one of the most electrifying performances of the 2nd pianoconcerto. The Danish radio orchestra is incited by the Russian conductor Nicolai Malko. 

One of the first “cheap” CD’s I bought as a student was the concerto box by Aldo Ciccolini recorded in 1970. With the fourth concerto in this performance, my love for the Saint-sains concertos started. Highly original two movement form. 

The fifth piano concerto was inspired by the travels Saint-Saens undertaken to north Africa. The orchestration of this concerto is marvelous and I was pleasantly surprised Dutch pianist Hannes Minnaar played it at the 2010 Queen Elisabeth piano competition. A very fine performance, free and in nothing in his playing you hear he was competing for something. He obviously had fun…

Hope you will enjoy these performances! 

Camille Saint-Saëns:

Track 01 Camille Saint-Saëns plays parts of the first movement of his second concerto

recorded 1904

Tracks 02-04 Concerto No.2 in G minor op. 22 for piano and orchestra (1868)

Victor Schiøler, piano 

Danish State Radio Symphony Orchestra ·

Nicolai Malko, conductor

recorded 1953

Tracks 05-06 Concerto No 4 In C Minor, Op. 44 for piano and orchestra (1875)

Aldo Ciccolini, piano

Orchestre de Paris

Serge Baudo, conductor

recorded 1970

Tracks 07-09 Concerto No 5 In F Major, Op. 103 for piano and orchestra (1896)

Hannes Minnaar, piano

National orchestra of Belgium,

Marin Aslop, conductor

recorded 2010

https://open.spotify.com/user/otterhouse/playlist/7xclTjEFOMqFAI3sh59Bjj

(Spotify Web Player Link)

Overture concert and symphony a la Française on Spotify

In concert programming, the “sandwich”, an overture, followed by a concerto and closed with a symphony is a proven succes. Also makes a nice Spotify playlist where you can combine you own armchair concerthall together :-)

For this playlist I’ve chosen three French works from the 19th century:

Camille Saint-Saens 1872 Le Rouet d'Omphale (Omphale's Spinning Wheel) is one of the composers symphonic poems based on Greek mythology. Rather more an atmospheric than a literal description of story about Hercules travesty adventures…  The performance of this piece by Charles Dutoit is a long time favorite, with fine playing by the Philharmonia Orchestra. 

For Édouard Lalo’s 1874 “Violin Concerto” (called “Symphonie” Espangole) I had two choices in digital recordings; the secure and firm Sarah Chang and the playful, more imaginative Christian Tetzlaff. Both versions had their own merits, but the “symphony” factor, in this case the magnificent playing by the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Libor Pesek, made me go for the Tetzlaff version. Thrilling musicality :-)

The three movement 1890 symphony in B-flat Major is an underrated masterpiece, composed by Ernest Chausson. Cyclic in form, just as in Cesar Franck’s better known symphony, but darker in tone and especially the forward looking harmonies. Sibelius is not far away in this work. Although the BBC Symphony Orchestra is a British Orchestra, the “sound” conductor Yan Pascal Tortelier  elicits is idiomatically French. Fine listening experience. 

Hope you will enjoy this French “concert at home” playlist…!

Camille Saint-Saens (1835-1921)

Le Rouet d’Omphale op 31

Philharmonia Orchestra

Charles Dutoit, conductor

Édouard Lalo (1823-1892)

Symphonie Espagnole in d minor op 21

Christian Tetzlaff, violin

Czech Philharmonic Orchestra

Libor Pesek, conductor

Ernest Chausson (1855-1899)

Symphony in Bb Major op 20

BBC Symphony Orchestra

Yan Pascal Tortelier, conductor

https://open.spotify.com/user/otterhouse/playlist/4LNL05gkseo5DheHLMH7Rd (HTTP link)

Kamerkoor Jip Camber Choir concert spotify

Last weekend, Dutch chamber choir JIP gave a concert in Amsterdam and Utrecht. As I don't have too much choral music on this blog, I thought it was a nice idea to re-create that concert on Spotify. The two Dutch items are not on the list alas (although youtube has the Shakespeare Sonnet 43 by Jurriaan Andriessen, yes, brother òf...), but the rest is there, and makes a fine playlist :-)
Enjoy!

Ralph Vaughan Williams – Come away, death
Ralph Vaughan Williams – Silence and Music 
Quink vocal ensemble
Hubert Parry – Music, when soft voices die
Canzonetta Chamber Choir, Jeffry Wynn Davies
Camille Saint-Saëns – Calme des nuits Op. 68 no. 1
Camille Saint-Saëns – Les fleurs et les arbres Op. 68 no. 2
Monteverdi Choir, John Elliot Gardiner
Johannes Brahms – Fünf gesänge Op. 104
Capella Amsterdam, Daniel Reuss
Charles.V. Stanford – Blue Bird
Choir of new College Oxford, Edward Higginbottom
Edward Elgar – My love dwelt in a Northern land
Musica Intima

http://open.spotify.com/user/otterhouse/playlist/4REcltptWBJq042KFvqIj1 (HTTP link)

JIP Chamber Choir