Search - Tinuke Olafimihan :: Camille Saint-Saëns: Requiem / Symphony No.3

The bulk of this energetic and prolific composer's output is infrequently or never played. In two Saint-Saens CDs with the London Philharmonic, Cala Records has discovered some hidden gems and balanced them with more popular works. On the present recording Cala's Artistic Director Geoffrey Simon, conducts two rare works and one familiar one: the delightfully exotic Overture from Saint-Saëns's operetta La Princesse Jaune and the expressive, atmospheric Messe de Requiem rub shoulders with the resplendent Organ Symphony. The Overture received high praise from Fauré, who singled it out for its ''wit, tenderness and splendid colour qualities''. The Requiem, written in just 8 days in 1876 against a backdrop of personal tragedy, is a significant work deserving, we feel, of much wider performance. The Organ Symphony, dedicated by Saint-Saëns to his long time friend and champion Liszt, remains one of the finest of Romantic symphonies ever composed and here Geoffrey Simon and the London Philharmonic are joined by James O'Donnell at the console of one of the world's largest organs, in Westminster Cathedral. Cala Records has achieved a magnificent sound with its massive instrumental forces and this is one of the finest versions of the Organ Symphony available.