The Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra performs Saint-Saëns, Tchaikovsky and Boulanger

Cédric Tiberghien joins the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra for Tchaikovsky's ever-popular Piano Concerto no.1. This is surrounded by a programme of French music, including Lili Boulanger's D’un matin de printemps and Saint-Saëns' Organ Symphony.

Recorded last month at Lighthouse, Poole, and presented by Al Ryan.

Saint-Saëns: Phaeton
Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto No.1
L Boulanger: D’un matin de printemps

Interval

Saint-Saëns: Symphony No.3 ‘Organ’

Cédric Tiberghien (Piano)
Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra
Chloé Van Soeterstède (conductor)

Unlike the eponymous charioteer’s skills, Saint-Saëns technical skills were at their peak in his tone poem Phaeton: its galloping steeds racing to a catastrophic demise before a final lament for youthful hubris. Tchaikovsky’s First Piano Concerto is an exuberant and passionate work filled with uninhibited virtuosity. It remains refreshingly original with its exciting and altogether exceptional opening, and richly forged musical dramas of powerful virtuosity and uncommon sensitivity. A lyrical sensibility defines Lili Boulanger’s bright and festive picture of a carefree spring morning with its arabesque-like playfulness and delicate, highly transparent instrumentation. Saint-Saëns said that he had “given everything I was able to give” to his Third Symphony, and this shows in its virtuoso piano passages, brilliant orchestral writing and the audacious use of organ. It reveals a genuine flair for sumptuous orchestral colour, suave and unforgettable melody and brilliant craftsmanship – the zenith of his symphonic output. There is simply nothing else quite like it.