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Camille Saint-Saens: Organ Symphony/Tone Poems
Camille Saint-Saens, Lorin Maazel, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra
Camille Saint-Saens: Organ Symphony/Tone Poems
Genre: Classical
 
  •  Track Listings (7) - Disc #1

Lorin Maazel wound up his tenure as Music Director of the Pittsburgh Symphony in 1996 with a string of glamorous big-orchestra recordings. This was one of them, and it showed yet again that in the virtuoso repertoire, ...  more »

     
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Lorin Maazel wound up his tenure as Music Director of the Pittsburgh Symphony in 1996 with a string of glamorous big-orchestra recordings. This was one of them, and it showed yet again that in the virtuoso repertoire, this French-born conductor has few peers. He gives the symphony, actually recorded in 1993 (with the organ part dubbed in three years later), a splendid ride and presides over impeccable performances of the shorter pieces that round out the disc. --Ted Libbey

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CD Reviews

This is good?
Timothy Mikolay | Pittsburgh, PA | 05/09/2000
(3 out of 5 stars)

"Too many times, the Pittsburgh winds and strings have fallen prey to the bombastic playing by their colleagues in the percussion and brass sections. This time the organ is out of control as well. Though everyone plays superbly, the balance of the orchestral voices is annoying. EMI released a Saint-Saens 3rd approximately at the same time that is far superior to this recording. This is not one of Pittsburgh's finest."
Organ Symphony Dichotomy
Christopher Henrici | Washington, DC United States | 07/27/2006
(4 out of 5 stars)

"While this CD featuring some of Saint Saens most popular works is recorded using a favorable microphone technique and achieves excellent sound quality, for the 3rd symphony, the Organ parts were recorded in a church seperately and dubbed in at a later date. Performance purists will not like this fact since it is seperate performance times and locations of the same piece involving considerable patchwork and editing to pull it off. But both are done using the minimal microphone technique from the early days of stereo by RCA, Mercury and Decca, and one which many classical music listeners prefer as it gives a sound closer to being in the hall. So the disc presents something of a dichotomy. On the plus side the organ sounds as big and powerful as I've heard for this piece, and I like the performance of the Orchestra conducted by Maazel. He lets the pieces breath without too tight a rein. It sounds sensible. There is no strong signature exercised by the conductor. He let's the music through without contorting it. The other pieces included have no organ and so don't have any continuity issues. Danse Macabre is great. Overall the RCA BSO/Munch Organ symphony still rules but if you want a more recent one with good sound quality, this CD is worthy. I have heard a few others that are not as good as this one."
Outstanding Sound Quality
E. Bishop | Northampton, MA USA | 01/18/2000
(5 out of 5 stars)

"While I can't compare this performance to others of this music, I can tell you that the sound is terrific and performance is beautiful, enough to give you a few goose bumps. The organ is very impressive. Highly recommended."