Saint-Saëns, Piano Concerto No 2

 
"He knows everything, but he lacks inexperience", commented Hector Berlioz about the young composer Camille Saint-Saëns, when the latter premiered his first work in 1853, at the age of eighteen. Fourteen years later, Berlioz's opinion had lost all trace of sarcasm and he was able to say unequivocally that Saint-Saëns was "a brilliant pianist and one of the greatest musicians of our time".

Indeed, by 1867, the composer who at the age of ten had delighted audiences at the famous Salle Pleyel with his first public concert had already composed his First Symphony, a piano concerto, and a violin concerto, as well as a variety of chamber music and the outline of an opera.
Saint-Saëns was a celebrity in Paris.

A concerto for Anton Rubinstein
Therefore, it is not surprising that in 1868 the premiere of his Second Piano Concerto was memorable enough to force a new performance within a few days. The composer had met that same year the Russian pianist and conductor Anton Rubinstein performing as a soloist in a series of concerts conducted by the already famous Saint-Saëns. Rubinstein told him that he had never conducted in France, they hit it off and Saint-Saëns undertook to write a piano concerto for Rubinstein to conduct in Paris.

Camille Saint-Saëns
(1835 - 1921)

Soloist, conductor, and vice versa
According to some, it took Saint-Saëns ten days to write the concerto; according to others, three weeks. What is certain is that the work was premiered on May 13, 1868, with Saint-Saëns as the soloist and the Russian conductor in charge of conducting the orchestra. The second performance "at the request of the public" allowed Rubinstein to take over the solo piano this time.

Concerto No. 2 for piano and orchestra in G minor, opus 22
The work is in three movements and exhibits the unusual feature that the slow movement is the first and not the second.

Andante sostenuto: A long solo piano introduction with baroque reminiscences. The orchestra makes its appearance at minute 1:29 with sonorous chords; then the piano sings the quiet and melancholic first theme (2:03); a dialogue with the orchestra begins. A second theme appears at 4:05, introduced by the piano and orchestra. At 8:10 the soloist begins a long cadenza until at 10:38 the orchestra joins in, accompanying the piano in a hushed, mysterious way and then unexpectedly building to a climax at 12:42. Two sharp fortissimo chords close the movement.

Allegro scherzando: 13:06 As already mentioned, instead of the typical adagio, as a second movement we have a scherzo. In the key of E flat, the two themes that make it up are lively and witty. First theme: 13:10 The piano's very fast octave scales lead into the second theme, without further ado, at 14:20. The first theme is resumed at 15:30, now in a minor key. The first and second themes alternate before leading to a simple, sparing and elegant closing.

Presto: 19:34 The piece returns to the initial key, G minor. The movement is entirely a frenetic tarantella. Terribly fast, it ends with a tumultuous arpeggiated finale by piano and orchestra. There can be no doubt that Saint-Saëns knew how to bring a concerto to a close and, as Berlioz said, he must also have been a terrific pianist.

The rendition is by Arthur Rubinstein accompanied by the London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Pierre Boulez.