SACD, Saint-Saëns (composer)
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Orchestral players will travel long distances to make music with [Wilson] and this recording shows why…It’s far from being all noise, the woodwind in particular being exquisitely agile…All the... —
Awards:
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Gramophone Magazine, February 2020, Recording of the Month
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BBC Music Magazine, April 2020, Orchestral Choice
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Finalist 2020
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Gramophone Magazine, Critics' Choice 2020
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The Times Records of the Year, 2020
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In John Wilson's account [of The Sorcerer's Apprentice] the drama is calibrated to a T with virtuosity and precision aplenty, from the first purposely placed pizzicato 'plop' to that unearthly... —
Awards:
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Presto Recording of the Week, 1st May 2026
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Saint-Saëns: Piano Concertos Nos. 1 & 2
Alexandre Kantorow (piano), Tapiola Sinfonietta, Jean-Jacques Kantorow
The virtuosity is breathtaking, yet nothing is hard-pressed, for the younger Kantorow has that hallmark of the greatest performers of always appearing to have plenty of time...In short, this... —
Awards:
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BBC Music Magazine, July 2022, Concerto Choice
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Schallplattenkritik Quarterly Critics Choice, Autumn 2022, Orchestral Music & Concertos
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International Classical Music Awards, 2023, Nominated - Concerto
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Gramophone Awards, 2023 Finalists, Shortlisted - Concerto
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Ravel & Saint-Saëns: Piano Trios
Alexander Sitkovetsky (violin), Isang Enders (cello), Wu Qian (piano), Sitkovetsky Trio
It’s ravishingly done by the Sitkovetsky Trio, who more than inhabit the scope of Ravel’s expressive language and ambition in his attempt to expand the form’s musical language. —
Awards:
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International Classical Music Awards, 2022, Nominated - Chamber Music
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BBC Music Magazine Awards, 2022, Winner - Chamber
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Saint-Saëns: Piano Concertos 3, 4 & 5 'L'Égyptien'
Alexandre Kantorow (piano)
Tapiola Sinfonietta, Jean-Jacques Kantorow
It is no hardship to review yet another Saint-Saëns piano concerto recording when it is as good as this…Believe me, [Kantorow] is the real deal – a firebreathing virtuoso with a poetic charm... —
Awards:
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Gramophone Magazine, June 2019, Editor's Choice
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Diapason d’Or, September 2019, Nouveauté
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International Classical Music Awards, 2019, Nominee - Concerto
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Gramophone Magazine, December 2019, Critics' Choice
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Saint-Saëns: Cello Concertos Nos. 1 & 2
and other works
Truls Mørk (cello), Louis Lortie (piano), Hélène Mercier (piano) & Alasdair Malloy (glass harmonica)
Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, Neeme Järvi
[Mørk's] noble command is ideal in the darkly blazing, virtuosic second concerto. One of our great lyric instrumentalists, he gives a deeply-felt, but never over-dramatised performance, a piercing... —
Awards:
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Gramophone Magazine, January 2016, Editor's Choice
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Saint-Saëns: Violin Works
Cecilia Zilliacus (violin), Christian Ihle Hadland (piano), Stephen Fitzpatrick (harp)
Cecilia Zilliacus is more than up to the challenge. Her lightly-worn virtuosity and crystalline phrasing ensures nothing feels forced in the First Sonata...With everything captured in superb... —
Awards:
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Gramophone Magazine, May 2023, Editor's Choice
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BBC Music Magazine, June 2023, Chamber Choice
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Saint-Saëns: Symphony No. 3
Thierry Escaich (organ), Orchestre Philharmonique de Liège, Jean-Jacques Kantorow
[In Urbs Roma] Kantorow elicits vigorous playing, with sharp contrasts, and manages the imaginative die-away ending with sensitivity...this performance [of the Organ Symphony] is almost entirely... —
Awards:
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Diapason d'Or, September 2021, Nouveauté
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The organ has a really gutsy, symphonic core... Jan Kraybill... plays with considerable verve and a feeling both for colour and for the grand gesture. —
Awards:
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Grammy Awards, 62nd Awards (2019), Nominee - Best Classical Instrumental Solo
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