Alfred Cortot - Saint-Saëns Concerto No. 4 in C minor Op. 44

1. Allegro moderato
2. Andante (4:06)
3. Allegro vivace - Andante - Allegro (11:49)
dir. Charles Munch
rec. 1935

[@opale1572]

Realmente me asombra la cantidad de virtuosos del piano que ven este canal, y que se sienten capacitados para notar los "incontables errores" de Cortot y, también, cuáles pianistas son "mejores". Incluso hay uno tan sabio que se limita a escribir el nombre y le añade un signo de admiración. Y ya está, no hace falta más.

[@professordodo1]

I was 16 or 17 when I bought a second hand set of 78rpms of this wonderful work for four shillings. Mum was French and devoted to Cortot and I soon got hooked. Never tired of winding up the HMV and turning the records every 5/6 minutes. Exquisite eternal interpretation .

[@ydraki]

The wealth of sounds of this concerto is so varied that makes me visualise thoughts behind it.

[@solonka123]

This performance is legendary. Hard to imagine anyone playing it better!

[@MarcJohan2009]

Try Marc-André Hamelin. A different approach, sure, but equally interesting.

[@charlesbickford5167]

Darre!

[@simonboccanegra3811]

It's easy to imagine people playing it more *accurately* (there are uncountable slips and flubs), but not better.

[@johnnauman347]

So quiet, a great man here.

[@baltoman24]

This is one of the great performances. The concerto may be the finest of the 5 piano concertos of Saint-Saens (I believe that they are all masterpieces!) and Cortot and Munch play this work with superb nuance. In a modern performance, those by Collard, Roge and Malikova are also excellent. thank you for posting this wonderful performance of this great work.

[@penelopewhite1509]

The greatest piano accompanist who ever lived, And M.Corot's solo performances go without question as among the best.

[@pelegrino791]

Why this superb concerto is not more often played ?

[@shosha1878]

Same question here. Also The number 1 and 3.

[@murrayaronson3753]

Good question. Audiences are often creatures of habit. I've only heard this concerto live just once, in the late 80s at the Hollywood Bowl with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. I don't recall either the pianist or the conductor.

[@murrayaronson3753]

Saint-Saens is one of the great composers of France, up there with Berlioz, Debussy, Bizet, and a few others.

[@Karlinberlin1]

I love this concerto also. So french sounding. At least as good as the Liszt concertos.

[@jeanghika7653]

Because it's beastly difficult. Nowadays pianist do not want to work that much. For this concerto you have to work four times as much as of a Lisz one, and six times as much as for Schumann.

[@richardresseguier1]

On ne peut pas faire mieux comme interprétation : Sublime!

[@TheOrdener]

I've heard many recordings of this piece and this is my favorite by far. This recording has moments that I'd never heard before in this piece. Not only that, it seems to hover just on the edge of being out of control. So exciting!

[@jesusislordsavior6343]

Mike Saenz Saint-Saens' own playing gives that sense of being 'on the edge'----------as in his acoustic recording of the fantasia, 'Africa'. Cortot follows the composer's tempi, which are anything but 'safe'. He must have been in top form at the time of the recording.

[@josephlaredo5272]

I heard plenty of (actually) out-of-control moments!

[@TheOrdener]

@@josephlaredo5272 Ha ha. True enough! Just the same, I’d rather have that than safe. :)

[@rocco7131]

Un pianista legendario, un director de calidad y una orquesta a su altura.

[@johnnauman347]

So much beauty here. Cortot is/was the finest pianst of the 19th/20th century. Period. Humility and grace.

[@Palestrina-us8sv]

In terms of poetry for sure yes. Overall I would say Hofmann.

[@peteklat]

Why make this a competition? They all contributed something unique.

[@opale1572]

@@peteklat Muy cierto. Aquí todos se han puesto a citar a sus favoritos y, encima, a opinar sobre cuestiones técnicas y estéticas para demostrar quién sabe más. Ni es el lugar ni la ocasión para eso.

[@johnnauman347]

Definitely not.@@Palestrina-us8sv

[@Palestrina-us8sv]

@@johnnauman347 5 years later i have changed my opinion ;)

[@paga123]

This concerto and this version are amazing; an underrated piece ! Some people named Saint-Saens "the greatest of the little ones composers" or "the most genius of the un-genius composers"; but personnaly I put him at same level than Berlioz or Tschaikowky (for exemple) with different style.

[@jguinancio1]

Maravilhoso!!! Soberbo! Cortot e Horowitz a quintessência do piano!!!

[@TheVisualMusicShow]

High level of inspiration on the part of these two great musicians.

[@clarinetBC20]

Saint-Saens n'était mort que depuis 14 ans et sur cet enregistrement Cortot avait 60 ans. Il est à parier que cet enregistrement est avec l'orchestre philharmonique de Paris créé par Cortot en 1935 et dissous en 1938 et dont le chef permanent était C. Munch.

[@joelkatz8729]

Magnificent!

[@pianistmusic]

Marvellous!!!

[@ydraki]

Nothing wrong if part of it is sentimental, especially when performed by superb musicians such as the incomparable Alfred Cortot.

[@jeanghika7653]

Music HAS TO BE SENTIMENTAL!!!! It's not the sound of factories, of trafic or the coleric outbursts of a mother-in-law. Maestro Cortot was the best pianist in the world since Liszt. As for Camille Saint-Saens, he is the best Fance ever had. They play his works very seldom, because they are

[@jeanghika7653]

lasy and its easier to play the BWVs 1052, 1053, etc or the heaps of KVs. The listeners are ruminants and graze the same

[@jeanghika7653]

meadows. (I beg your pardon for the interruptions, but my laptop is new and we are not yet befriended). Sometimes, we have to be grateful, because that prevents the dissemination of unmusical chains of

[@jeanghika7653]

dissonances.

[@gilleslandini6989]

Inégalé !!

[@johnnauman347]

Mr. Gilels is the other greatest pianist, hands down. I played for Mr. Horowitz in his home. He mentioned both Gilels and Cortot.

[@camillebouchard6436]

J'aime ++++

[@johnnauman347]

Makes me cry.

[@richardresseguier1]

Scumann et Cortot concerto piano GOOD!

[@orfeo117]

Michel...se necita un PIANISTA VIRTUOSO Y TITANICO...y son ESCASOS...Es un concierto estupendo!!!

[@jeanghika7653]

Charles Münch, le chef d'orchestre suisse, a écrit une suite extraordinaire d'analyses des concertos de Beethoven.

[@davidnicolle5360]

à ceci près qu'il n'était pas suisse, mais né allemand à Strasbourg en 1891 et naturalisé français en 1919 au traité de Versailles qui redonnait l'Alsace à la France. Ceci dit, si vous avez la référence précise de son analyse des concertos de Beethoven, je serais enchanté

[@alger3041]

To Matthew Mosca (no way to reply directly) I agree that this concerto of the 5 for piano is the finest of the group. For me, it actually is the sibling of the Organ Symphony, both to be regarded in the same breath as equals.

[@baltoman24]

Yes, I agree- the structure of the two compositions are strongly related. And what magnificent music in each case!

[@alger3041]

Absolutely true.

[@matthewmosca5002]

Yes, I agree. Both this concerto and The Symphony Number 3 share the same formal layout, and both are filled with magnificent melodies and endless fascination. Cortot is, of course, superb- what a brilliant musician. I hope his concepts come back into style. best wishes-

[@murrayaronson3753]

I don't know about structure, but I love the Saint-Saens Cello Concerto No 1. I used to say that it's second only to the Dvorak, but now I think it's more like an equal.

[@alger3041]

@@murrayaronson3753 I myself love the concerto you are referring to (have never heard his No. 2 which is a rarity). And truthfully, I am not overly enamored with the Dvorak concerto. There are very few concertante works for cello and orchestra that draw me, but here is my list of those that Ido like very much: the Haydn No. 2 in D Major, the Boccherini B Flat Major as put together by Friedrich Grutzmacher, the Saint-Saens No. 1 in A Minor, and the Elgar. I also love the Tchaikovsky Rococo Variations, in the familiar edited version, not Tchaikovsky's sprawling original. As I say, I am not overly drawn by the Dvorak, the Schumann has put me to sleep on more than one occasion, and the Lalo I distinctly dislike.

[@clarinetBC20]

Etant donné l'année d'enregistrement, ça sonne incroyablement bien surtout l'orchestre. Remasterisation intensive?

[@ulfwernernielsen6708]

Fascinating performance but I also love the Entremont /Ormandy recording. This concerto is wonderful like a French " Schumann Concerto "

[@murrayaronson3753]

You hit it right for me. My most favorite piano concertos are the Robert Schumann and the Saint-Saens No. 4, above Mozart's, Beethoven's, Mendelssohn's, Brahms's, Tchaikovsky's. I'll try to make any concert that features performances of the Schumann and the Saint-Saens #4.

[@jesusislordsavior6343]

Ulf Werner Nielsen Are you referring to the dialogue between piano and orchestra, or the 'obbligato', 'accompagnando' aspect of much of the piano writing? I never would have considered the comparison, but very interesting coming from a presumably German perspective.

[@witsukyai1685]

This and Entremont is the best version

[@johnnauman347]

This one.

[@1947laurence]

a real wonder (=Laura Galtier on facebook)

[@opale1572]

Cada cual trae al que a él le gusta. Como si esto fuera una encuesta.

[@witsukyai1685]

Can you get more French than this

[@MrBohuslav]

Definitive. Full stop.

[@charlesbickford5167]

Darre!!!

[@MrBohuslav]

Darré is nice and idiomatic, of course, but never as visionary as Cortot (and Munch) in this piece!

[@charlesbickford5167]

Nice? You are aware that Camille, himself, personally trained Darre, no? She built a 60+ year career on being The Source for the 5 SS concertos.

[@MrBohuslav]

And that she used to perform the five concertos during the same concert, of course. But for such works, there cannot be an only "source", even with capital letters, and speaking of "sources" in French music, Cortot is not bad either...

[@charlesbickford5167]

Sorry I overstated the case... But to do it again; your boy Cortot was the absolute Chopin master of the 20th century (taught by a former student of Frederic). I never understood why I was so uninterested until I heard Darre. Chopin was her True Passion (I'm sure you've heard the stories about the Gaveau in her bedroom). Then KZbin suggested Cortot... I have no words! Unless they are these: Cortot is to Chopin as Arrau is to Liszt.

[@stanhawkins1023]

Don’t like showy runs and pyrotechnics? There are other composers for you. The rest of us will revel in Saint-Saens!

[@CarborundumKid]

Robert Casadesus played this as if he were ashamed of the work's sentimentality but Mr.Cortot is quite shameless (for a Frenchman).

[@denislemoullac521]

rightly so.

[@warrencohen8246]

except Cortot was Swiss not French. Which, in terms of stereotypes, makes his embrace of the sentimental element even funnier.

[@guntax59]

I kind of like that special french uninhibited naïveté and certainly much prefer it to the english neurotic controlledness. (Wish I'd master the language, though.)

[@antoniorezende3255]

That's because he's not a frenchman, he is swiss!

[@LeondeLure]

@@warrencohen8246 Cortot suisse!!!!

[@josephlaredo5272]

Oh, come on, you sycophants! This is dreadfully scrappy (as ever with Cortot). Did the man ever actually practise? There MUST be more enjoyable recordings out there (I haven't spent hours looking/listening and no doubt none of you will, either). Thanks for posting.