Saint-Saëns: Romance in F major, Op. 36

This historical testimony demonstrates that Saint-Saëns is the origin of the worldwide famous “French winds tradition”. In his twilight years and aged eighty five, Saint-Saëns came back to wind sonatas. Although being very classical, the three 1921 sonatas announce the “Groupe des Six” neo-classicism, and particularly Poulenc. In that respect, even at the very end of his life, Saint-Saëns remained an innovator.

This selection of French music for horn and piano reveals the increasing variety in sound which the horn was able to produce thanks to the invention of valves.

The history of the horn and its technical development has been of particular importance to French music. In contrast to Germany, horn players in France initially declined to use the valved horn after its invention in the 19th-century, which was reflected in the style of contemporary composition.

Juxtaposing works for horn and piano of the 19th and 20th centuries allows an insight into the different playing techniques of the instrument and its development from natural to valved horn, the turning point of which is exemplified by Paul Dukas’ Villanelle.

The two Italian musicians Guglielmo Pellarin (horn) and Federico Lovato (piano) are making their joint recording début with this disc and have also chosen rarely heard works by the contemporary French composers Jean-Michel Damase and Jean-Michel Defaye, featuring surprisingly jazzy elements. The Sonata for Horn and Piano by Jean-Michel Damase is a première recording. Guglielmo Pellarin is principal horn of the Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome. He also regularly performs with the Symphonica Toscanini, the orchestras of the Teatro Verdi di Trieste and the Teatro alla Scala di Milano and the Filarmonica della Scala under conductors including Lorin Maazel, Zubin Mehta and John Eliot Gardiner. He has won many prizes and has toured Italy, Austria, Slovenia and Canada.

Federico Lovato studied piano in Venice and Imola. He has won numerous national and international competitions. He has given solo and chamber performances throughout Italy and Europe, including at the Gasteig in Munich, Teatr Mały in Warsaw, Teatro alle Erbe in Milan and Sala Mozart in Bologna. His repertoire spans from classicism to contemporary music. In addition to his career as concert pianist he teaches and is the Artistic Director of the orchestra I Solisti in Villa.

Le carnaval des Animaux was composed in February 1886 while Saint-Saëns was vacationing in a small Austrian village. It was originally scored for a chamber group of flute/piccolo, clarinet (B flat and C), two pianos, glass harmonica, xylophone, two violins, viola, cello and double bass. Saint-Saëns, apparently concerned that the piece was too frivolous and likely to harm his reputation as a serious composer, suppressed performances of it and only allowed one movement, ‘Le cygne’, to be published in his lifetime. Only small private performances were given for close friends like Franz Liszt. Saint-Saëns did, however, include a provision which allowed the suite to be published after his death. It was first performed on 26 February 1922, and it has since become one of his most popular works. It is a favourite of music teachers and young children, along with Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf and Britten's The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra.

In a century mostly inspired by German romantic orchestral pieces, Saint-Saëns considered wind instruments as on the same level as violin and piano. He is the origin of the French Wind tradition and in the evening of his life, aged 85, came back to composing sonatas turning to wind instruments with enthusiasm.

Saint-Saëns wrote a considerable amount of chamber pieces during his life, and his works for cello are seen as some of the most supreme for the cello repertoire.

Christian Poltéra and Kathryn Stott, best known for her performances of French repertoire perform Saint-Saëns melodic cello Sonatas, coupled with the legendary ‘Swan’ from The Carnival of the Animals. Romances Op.36 and Op.51 and Prière, Op.158 complete this programme.

Saint-Saens remains one of the most important composers for the cello, and his contributions are considerable.

Poltéra and Stott collaborate regularly in chamber music performances across the world and have recently recorded Faure Cello Sonatas for Chandos: ‘[Christian Poltéra]… is a fine choice of cellist for the two Sonatas. He phrases sensitively and makes the most of the composer’s dynamic markings… Kathryn Stott’s an ideal partner, managing her pedalling levels to produce a variety of textures.’ BBC Music Magazine

These works are both sweepingly romantic and an acid test for any player’s technical finesse. Apart from the popular First Concerto and the ubiquitous “Swan”, Saint-Saëns composed a Second Cello Concerto in addition to several other shorter works for Cello and orchestra, most of which are seldom heard in performance. Stunning performances from the young start cellist, Johannes Moser.