Concert review, ★★★★½, Lev Sivkov, Alexander Boldachev @ Alte Kantonsschule, Zurich, 2024-04-13 (Musik an ETHZ und UZH) — Vivaldi: Concerto in F minor, op.8/4, RV 297, "L'inverno" from "Le quattro stagioni" (arr. for harp); Cassadó: Suite for Cello Solo; Schubert: Sonata for arpeggione & piano in A minor, D.821, arranged for cello & harp

With its well-earned jubilant organ-enriched finale, I don’t need to explain why Saint-Saëns 3rd belongs on a #holidayplaylist. But the history of this particular recording is fascinating and potentially disturbing.

Let’s start with the dates and places: The orchestra was recorded in June and November of 1985 at Salle Wagram. The organ was recorded almost exactly a year after the first orchestra sessions at the Chartres Cathedral. This isn’t the first recording of the symphony to record the organ and orchestra at separate venues, but a year apart? There must have been some logistical nightmare here. And this is where it gets interesting.

By 1985, Ozawa was 12 years into his tenure as the music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Unlike Salle Wagram, Boston Symphony Hall has a magnificent organ. That organ had already been used in a successful recording of Saint-Saënt’s 3rd led by Charles Munch. The orchestra was deeply steeped in French tradition. A year earlier, EMI, the same label that produced this recording, released another recording with Ozawa and the BSO. So the inescapable question is: why did EMI record Saint-Saëns’s organ symphony with Orchestre National de France, which does not have an organ, instead of with Boston Symphony Orchestra which does?

Alas, the most obvious answer I can come up with is that without a French orchestra, some feared a recording lead by Ozawa wouldn’t be “authentic” enough or “French” enough, raising troubling racial implications. Ozawa’s photo is nowhere to be found on the front or back cover of the original record. I wonder why.

I hope my conjecture is wrong, but I don’t have a better explanation. The organ is mixed in pretty surgically - it’s only heard when it needs to be and only as softly as the music allows. The muddiness of the reverberant cathedral acoustics is thus avoided. And the orchestra gives Ozawa a heartfelt performance… but it’s still not the same as having the orchestra and the organ really play together.

#nowspinning #vinyl #thriftstore #mancave #classicalmusic #organmusic #organ #orgue #orgel #frenchorganmusic #boëllmann #gigout #guilmant #saintsaens #discogs #vinylcollection #vinylcommunity #vinylfreak #vinylcollector #vinyl2ndlife #1eurovinyl https://www.instagram.com/p/Cl1jb7MoQ-C/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

#DavideAlogna #Violin #SaintSaens #IntroductioneRondoCapicioso #Orchestra #Conservatorio #FrancescoCilea #ReggioCalabria #Italy🇮🇹 #DariuszMikulski #ReggioTV (hier: ReggioTV) https://www.instagram.com/p/CjIgw52oZDJ/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

Chin Kim violin Saint-Saens Ysaye 2010 Green Mountains Sunday concerts #Saintsaens #Ysaye Valse Caprice Wonmin Kim piano - youtube.com/chinkimviolinist Please feel free to subscribe, share, like..  #chinkimviolinlessons youtube.com/chinkimviolinist chinkim.com qcpages.qc.cuny.edu/music summitmusicfestival.org interharmony.com #chinkim #violintechnique #classicalmusic #chinkim0077 #violinteacher #violinist #violinmasterclass #violinlessonsOnline lessons possible via tl.page/chinkimviolinlessons-through-takelessons

Bonsoir les amis Merci à tous ceux qui sont venus vendredi dernier assister à notre spectacle à l'Auguste Théâtre. L'équipe de production (Yuhan, Matt, Pasindu, Henrik) était au top, la technique sous les mains de Thomas parfaitement délivrée. David et Marion nous ont donné un concert d'une grande finesse avec une maitrise parfaite du programme (pourtant si ambitieux, Bach, Beethoven, Massenet, Mendelssohn, Tchaikovsky, Saintsaens, Granados, Sibelius, Bloch, Bill Evans, Piazzola)...... sur mes créations en toiles de fonds. La salle était comble et l'ambiance très chaleureuse (au sens propre et figuré). Bref, j'espère que nous aurons réussi à vous transmettre un peu de magie et de poésie ce soir-là. Encore merci à tous. Amicalement #passefutur #spectacleparis #spectaclemusical #contemporaryart #classicalmusic (at L'Auguste Théâtre) https://www.instagram.com/p/Cjc11r0DtsY/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

久しぶりに霊南坂教会のチャペルコンサートへ。演奏は梅干野安未さん。生誕200年のフランク聴きたいな〜と思ってたら…聴けました。嬉しい。Boëlyの作品18-6はすごく面白くて、これから明るいほうへ向かう兆し。光が射すような。 #organ #chapel #cesarfranck #saintsaens #boëly (霊南坂教会) https://www.instagram.com/p/CZed2qSFuRu/?utm_medium=tumblr

Something a bit different for my first gig since 2019 #music #live #claraschumann #recital #fideliotrio #saintsaens (at Theatre Royal & Royal Concert Hall) https://www.instagram.com/p/CRPGqqalPm3/?utm_medium=tumblr

「今日の４小節」 フランスの作曲家サン・サーンスのヴァイオリン協奏曲第３楽章を弾きました！「白鳥」で有名ですけど、こんな格好いいメロディも書いています。 私は彼のヴァイオリンソナタが大好きです！ I played Saint.Saens's violin concerto 3rd movement. #バイオリン #ヴァイオリン #サン・サーンス #フランス #音楽 #演奏 #協奏曲 #コンチェルト #白鳥 #メロディ #ソナタ #無伴奏 #クラシック #violin #violine #musica #music #saintsaens #french #concerto #japan #tokyo #classicalmusic https://www.instagram.com/p/CCTNAYJJmf1/?igshid=1265xgxj3q1ga

Some Saint-Saëns to finish this weekend! 就用聖桑來結束這個回合吧～ #YorkLu #長笛 #flute #플루트 #长笛 #フルート #fløyte #fluit #flöte #fuvola #flauta #flûte #поперечнаяфлейта #flöjt #fløjte #flüt #piccolo #saintsaens #saintsaëns #organsymphony #orchestralife #musicianslife #fluteplayer #flutelife https://www.instagram.com/p/B2bOtTUASYe/?igshid=x4lwfry08fsp

Brilliant concert last night @usherhall by @rsnoofficial #rsno #saintsaens #delibes #bizet #neemejärvi (at Usher Hall) https://www.instagram.com/p/B4XAxcigoTd/?igshid=i2ipaxkjyff4

#nowspinning #vinyl #thriftstore #mancave #classicalmusic #discogs #vinylcollection #vinylcommunity #vinylfreak #vinylcollector #vinyl2ndlife #1eurovinyl #organmusic #organ #orgue #orgel #royalalberthall #royalalberthallorgan #bach #schumann #mendelssohn #saintsaens #gigout #widor #annalapwood https://www.instagram.com/p/CnfD1A-L0iH/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

In great company before #rehearsal #AleksandraGudzio #Mezzosoprano #GiuseppeCurrao #DavideAlogna #Violin #DariuszMikulski #Mozart #SaintSaens #Haydn #ReggioCalabria #Italy🇮🇹 (hier: Reggio Calabria - Italy) https://www.instagram.com/p/CjD3bGPLYr8/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

#flute #flutemusic #fluteplayer #flutistsofinstagram #flutist #flutelife #flutelyfe #flutelove #fluteteacher #instaflute #fluteproblems #musiciansofinstagram #classicalmusic #thestudio #flutuefriday #saintsaens #voliere https://www.instagram.com/p/B2odWBiA9oL/?igshid=1tzeb1o1ep7p3

Chin Kim violin Saint-Saens Ysaye 2010 Green Mountains Sunday concerts #SaintSaens #Ysaye Chin Kim violin WonMin Kim piano  youtube.com/chinkimviolinist copy Please feel free to subscribe, share, like.. #chinkimviolinlessons youtube.com/chinkimviolinist chinkim.com qcpages.qc.cuny.edu/music summitmusicfestival.org interharmony.com #chinkim #violintechnique #classicalmusic #chinkim0077 #violinteacher #violinist #violinmasterclass #violinlessonsOnline lessons possible via tl.page/chinkimviolinlessons-through-takelessons