Saint-Saëns: Symphonic Poems; Le Carnaval des Animaux; L'Assassinat du Duc de Guise

Saint-Saëns: Symphonic Poems; Le Carnaval des Animaux; L'Assassinat du Duc de Guise

HMM 902614.15 (harmonia mundi, CD, 2 discs)

FIRST RELEASE (17 November 2023)

Playing time: 118'18"
Tracks: 5 + 20
Booklet pages: 32
℗ 2023 harmonia mundi musique sas
© 2023 harmonia mundi musique sas
Main country of recording: France
Country of manufacture: Netherlands
Reviewer: Gerald Fenech
Review of Saint-Saëns: Symphonic Poems; Le Carnaval des Animaux; L'Assassinat du Duc de Guise published on 19 October 2023

François-Marie Drieux, solo violin
Les Siècles
François-Xavier Roth, conductor

Camille Saint-Saëns (1835-1921):

CD1

1 Phaéton, Op 39

2 La Jeunesse d'Hercule, Op 50

3 Le Rouet d'Omphale, Op 31

4 Danse macabre, Op 40

5 Bacchanale (Samsom et Dalila, Act III, scene 2)

CD2

1-14 Le Carnaval des Animaux - Grande fantaisie zoologique
1 Introduction et Marche royale du lion
2 Poules et Coqs
3 Hémiones (Animaux véloces)
4 Tortues
5 L'Éléphant
6 Kangourous
7 Aquarium
8 Personnages à longues oreilles
9 Le Coucou au fond des bois
10 Volière
11 Pianistes
12 Fossiles
13 Le Cygne
14 Final

L'Assassinat du Duc de Guise, film music, Op 128
15 Prélude
16 Premier tableau
17 Deuxième tableau
18 Troisième tableau
19 Quatrième tableau
20 Cinquième tableau

François-Xavier Roth and Les Siècles offer us a double-sided portrait of Saint-Saëns here. On the one side, some of the most fascinating symphonic poems of French Romanticism are revealed in all the shimmering timbres of the period. On the other, we rediscover a composer who enjoyed a good laugh - The Carnival of the Animals also returns to its original colours! - when he was not involved in the early days of the cinema, with the very first music ever composed for a film!