Camille Saint-Saëns - Piano Concerto No. 4, Op. 44 (1875) {Pascal Rogé}

[@e.hutchence-composer8203]

19:47 I love this moment. That melody which had been hiding in the corners of the music for all this time has not decided the time is right to push everything out of the way and take centre stage. It’s such a simple idea but works well. I’d say this Concerto is equally as important as Saint-Saens’ 3rd Symphony and should certainly be performed more.

[@nicholasfox966]

Well-put. Saint-Saëns was a master of this type of gradually unfurled motivic idea. His mastery of thematic transformation and discovery is just one of the many things for which he is monumentally underestimated.

[@ShaunakDesaiPiano]

Can you show me where instances of this theme are before here?

[@BryanSaylor1]

@@ShaunakDesaiPiano 5:22 is the first instance and it creeps in several times after that

[@bibigankteam8602]

In my opinion this is best Saint Saens concerto, concerto no 2 is also my favorite too.

[@kguy152000]

19:49 just took me by surprise. So simple and jolly.

[@rawvision6701]

It's a shame that this concerto is so rarely performed live in concert. His second concerto and even the fifth are played more often, but in my humble opinion, the fourth is his best concerto. Roge's recordings of Saint-Saens' piano concertos are probably the best available. Thanks for the upload with sheet music.

[@Mezzotenor]

To be honest, I keep changing my mind. Yes, there's a lot to be learned from this concerto, but I'm also smitten with #5, and #2 is a concert chestnut because of the last two movements - one irresistibly cute and the other flat-out virtuoso.

[@DanielRobertspiano]

I was happy to find this concerto on music minus one recently, so will be learning it to play along, and perform next year!

[@steelbill1834]

Yes, I haven't heard any as good as Roge's.

[@guillermobronstein1605]

@@Mezzotenor Hay una muy buena aunque un poco mediática versión de Entremont de la última parte del 2o movimiento.

[@simonprecheurllarena]

Lortie's version is great too.

[@MrPokehugo]

The first movement is absolutely magical.

[@paolocapecchi5182]

I love this concerto. What a beautiful interpretation by Pascal Rogé.

[@pianohq999]

So So So So So Underrated composer 😢

[@fernandodiasborges867]

CAMILLE SAINT-SAENS - UM DOS MAIORES PRODÍGIOS QUE, UM DIA, DESCERAM À TERRA !!! E POR MAIS ESSE ESPETÁCULO CELESTE... AGRADEÇAMOS A DEUS !!! SEMPRE, SEMPRE E ETERNAMENTE !!! FERNANDO DIAS BORGES, em 13/06/2.023.

[@Credenza1925]

Sometimes you don't need hundreds of notes and complicated writing to create a delightful and original piece...

[@pianohq999]

Also by my opinion it's better to look as something than to look like a total unique trash.

[@ciararespect4296]

Haha but there are hundreds of notes

[@pianohq999]

@@ciararespect4296 Hahaha, already know that, but still very underrated and gorgeous piece.

[@themoonfleesthroughclouds]

@@Whatismusic123 when the piece is better, it’s better. saying one piece is better because it has more or less notes is pretty ignorant. think of that one Debussy quote plastered all over low quality suite bergamesque MIDI performances’ comment sections.

[@therealrealludwigvanbeethoven]

@@themoonfleesthroughclouds The amusing specificity of this comment compels me to like it.

[@hyseo1121]

The greatest work of Saint Saens. This is the greatest example of cyclic form and shows his great skill and inspiration in handling main simple motif at the start.

[@dannyseo6410]

The second movement means a lot to me. It gave me a chill when I was a high school student, and the melody is simply striking that it is stuck in my head

[@rubisrosa]

Camille Saint-Saëns était un génie ! très bonne interprétation de l'orchestre et de Charles Dutoit. Merçi !

[@erika6651]

Am I in the minority thinking this his best concerto period? Arguably the least interesting moments are the beginning, but once the triumphant theme first appears in A flat, I'm a little choked up. A beautiful example of Saint Saen's cyclic form, it is well balanced, the piano part is hella fun, and the end is as epic and life affirming as the Organ Symphony.

[@Kobzar3374]

Well, I did not feel too much enthusiasm at the beginning of this concerto, but I kept listening to it just for the sake of widening my knowledge of the repertory. But the last theme of the last movement has appealed to me, it sounds a bit "Celtic," and its treatment has captivated me. Wow, brilliant! Thank you for sharing.

[@aygulbalcioglu7914]

Yes it's a captivating theme that ends the Allegro. To me it lilts, almost like a cowboy singing to the lone prairie

[@simonprecheurllarena]

10:33 high muted violins and high piano arpegios give out such a whimsical sound.

[@Mezzotenor]

It's always interesting to hear how motifs throughout the concerto are re-used, and this methodical resemblance to the Third Symphony ("Organ" or "with Organ") is hard to ignore. Very fine performance - thanks for posting.

[@robertoalexandre4250]

You're absolutely right! A listener below complained of the composer's lack of directionality but this is untrue: true, SS sometimes over does the rhapsodic flourishes and pianismos (I would agree to say he's not a particularly "deep" composer compared to, say, Brahms or Bruckner or Mahler...he is, though, very delightful and accessible to the ear), but he is a stickler to classical forms and his music is all organically constructed: this piece alone has several fugatos which serve exactly the purpose you stated.

[@cywiringwlad]

I would also add from a less musical viewpoint (but an artistic one) that sometimes as an artist one has certain images or motifs in ones head and more than one outing or exploration of these is necessary to fully work through them, get them off the brain, if you will.

[@Mezzotenor]

@@cywiringwlad I'm inclined to agree, and I've heard it said that, for example, Brahms seems to have written works in pairs because all the decisions he made in the first could go the other way in the second.

[@cywiringwlad]

@@Mezzotenor Oh, neat! Thanks for sharing.

[@e.hutchence-composer8203]

I love how Saint-Saens interweaves material from both movements into each other.

[@user-ru8vy1uz7c]

Браво очень красивый виртуозный концерт жаль что его редко щас играют

[@user-dc8ed4iq6v]

my favorite concerto..:)

[@tiagooliveirapreludios-imp9682]

Wow!! No words can describe how amazing this work is..

[@gdonaldallen]

Saint-Saëns and Mozart both wrote with such clarity their genius is apparent from the first note. Each note anticipates the next, as in a perfect construct.

[@calebhu6383]

I think Saint-Saëns was akin to the Romantic Mozart. Prodigious, technically impeccable, melodically gifted, and a lighter style of writing.

[@mmbmbmbmb]

Many technical elements have been brought forward in the description/comments. All I want to add is ... I was in awe throughout the entire piece. Thank you BB (J-MvB)

[@marianmrazik9813]

I. 0:00 I.b) 4:27 II. 12:37 II.b) 19:47

[@owengette8089]

7:59 10:33 11:09 19:47 23:57

[@jriquelmem]

Wow! I am just discovering Saint Sales piano concerts and I cannot believe how awesome they are. Looking at the score makes them more incredible. Wonderful pieces. Good work

[@matthewmosca5002]

Thank you for posting this excellent performance of the Saint-Saens' great Fourth, which is such an extraordinary work; beautiful and intriguing. The entire set of the Five Concerti are very well served by Roge/Dutoit, Collard/Previn and Malikova/Sanderling and I would not want to be without the Casadesus/Bernstein recording of this concerto, Number 4 either. thank you.

[@federicozimerman8167]

Rachmaninoff studied this piece and was influenced by it at around 5:00 it is obvious

[@JaeyoonGo]

Fantastic piece!

[@ciararespect4296]

One of my favorites

[@PianoHeal]

Thanks for sharing ❤️😊

[@LouieRaphaelExtravaganza]

Majestic

[@journey3451]

ピアノコンチェルト数あれどこれを一番聴きます。サンサーンスさんてピアノが上手ですよね。ユーモアもお持ち何でしょう。曲に出ている。

[@calebhu6383]

23:57

[@ValzainLumivix]

Nice

[@tsquaredtest1]

18:52 Bassoon

[@BenzemonstreENTs]

1:39 2:43

[@brunoperezortega1961]

19:27

[@ShaunakDesaiPiano]

0:01 “The Simpsons”.

[@hemiolaguy]

Well, now we know where Leonard Bernstein got his idea for "Maria"!

[@FreakieFan]

A tritone interval? An absurd comparison.

[@hemiolaguy]

@@FreakieFan I was being slightly facetious, but there they are -- the first 3 notes of "Maria" at the very beginning, in the 1st violins. I think it's likely that Mr. Bernstein knew this concerto, and it's possible that he may have (subconsciously?) borrowed this little motive for West Side Story.

[@christopherhall3894]

Not only did LB know it, he recorded it conducting the New York Philharmonic with pianist Robert Casadesus in the early 1960s. A coincidence?

[@andrewpetersen5272]

I thought Bernstein lifted that theme From Strauss' Burlesque.

[@iambuzz1725]

Perso j’suis là grâce à un livre sur ma ville

[@unmusicos7326]

Pk pas 😂

[@nicosuarez6962]

Anybody knows why a lot of pieces in C MINOR ends in C MAJOR??? 🤔 For example: The Beethoven's Choral Fantasy, the Chopin's Etude Op. 25 No. 12, this Concerto, the Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique, the Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 3, etc...

[@christianwouters6764]

Indeed a strange tradition. The inverse beginning major ending minor is never seen. At least not that I know of.

[@nicosuarez6962]

@@christianwouters6764 Yeah, i think the Same. Thanks

[@erika6651]

@@christianwouters6764 Not in C, but Mendelsohn's Italian Symphony begins in A Major and ends in A Minor. I can't think of another major symphonic work with a comparable major to minor shift. Chopin's 2nd Ballade begins in F Major but ends in A Minor, which is all the more bizarre for a composition from that period.

[@joshscores3360]

@@erika6651 one of Chopin's nocturnes goes B major - B minor

[@erika6651]

@@joshscores3360 and in some editions it doesn't, although I'm not sure if that's an editor's mistake, or if Chopin revised it.

[@mauriciowilson8829]

Éste compositor nunca me ha llegado. Parece que improvisara. No se sabe a dónde se dirige ni a dónde va a llegar. Nunca inicia una ''melodía'', una ''estructura'', un ''encuadre''. Son un caos sus inventos. Sus ''descomposiciones'', son perfectas para aquellos que gustan del jazz estrafalario, de lo estrambótico y excéntrico.

[@Kalen1457]

¿Has probado los conciertos tres o cinco para piano? Esta pieza es muy débil, yo me acuerdo contigo, pero los otros conciertos para el piano son aventuras? Especialmente numero tres.

[@clarisafalconvalerdi5354]

Así sucede con los de mente cuadrada, no hay remedio.

[@therealrealludwigvanbeethoven]

@@Kalen1457 This piece is not "weak" at all.

[@calebhu6383]

19:48

[@owengette8089]

is this the melody you meant was distinctly celtic

[@calebhu6383]

@@owengette8089 Ye