Saint-Saëns : Works for organ & orchestra

Chronique

Camille Saint-Saëns was a frequent performer on the Cavaillé-Coll organ of the Palais de Trocadéro, which was installed in 1878 for the Paris Expo. This famous instrument was relocated in 1939 to the Palais de Chaillot, and finally moved to the Lyon Auditorium in 1977, where it received a complete restoration in 2013. To mark this historic instrument's renovation, Vincent Warnier and the Orchestre National de Lyon, under the direction of Leonard Slatkin, present an all-Saint-Saëns program, showcasing the organ in three works. The 1919 arrangement by Edwin Lemaire of Saint-Saëns' orchestral Danse macabre, in a 2004 revision by Warnier, is an entertaining display of the organ's Romantic-era stops and uncanny capacity for imitating orchestral effects. The organ is prominently featured in the two works with orchestra, Cyprès et lauriers, and the Symphony No. 3 in C minor, "Organ," though the writing in both works is less splashy than in the opening selection. Indeed, the solo in Cyprès is quite knotty and somber, compared to the fireworks in Danse macabre and the relatively simple chordal part in the symphony is far from a virtuosic solo. Still, the organ's rich tone colors give the symphony much of its appeal, and the recording by Radio France captures its majestic presence with full volume.
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