Find classical music concert, opera, ballet and dance reviews | Symphony no. 3 in C minor "Organ Symphony", Op.78

In his inaugural concert at the helm of the Ulster Orchestra, Rustioni starts the new season with vigour in a charged evening of musical excitement.

Kyung Wha Chung exceeds her already-legendary reputation, assisted by her brother, Myung-whun Chung, and the Tokyo Philharmonic. 

A triumphant night for the CBSO, Harish Shankar and Boris Giltburg, with the mighty Saint-Saëns’ “Organ Symphony” and an inspired performance of Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto no. 3.

A marvellous Saint-Saëns “Organ Symphony” makes great use of the Adelaide Town Hall organ. 

Just what the doctor ordered: a programme of Franco-Iberian musical delights to advance the cause of a Mediterranean lifestyle, with Charles Dutoit and the RPO in commanding form.

Bruch’s Violin Concerto bo. 1 had a delicate soloist, but an outspoken orchestra, while Saint-Saëns’ “Organ Symphony” struck all the right notes.

Last Friday evening’s well-planned concert mostly produced some fine playing from both the London Philharmonic Orchestra and Benjamin Grosvenor but had the occasional misfire.

The Sinfónica Juvenil de Caracas tackled a brooding Romantic programme in a showcase of impressive power.

A performance by Leo van Doeselaar on the Concertgebouw’s Maarschalkerweerd Organ in Saint-Saëns’ Symphony no. overshadows all else in the Concertgebouw.

Miloš Karadaglić plays his debut at Colston Hall with Brussels Philharmonic under Michel Tabachnik. 

A lovingly crafted performance Franck’s Symphonic Variations glows under the advocacy of Benjamin Grosvenor while Gianandrea Noseda steers the BBCPO through a magnificent Saint-Säens’ Organ Symphony. 

The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra's current season is dedicated to performances of works for which its conductor, Charles Dutoit, has received critical acclaim in interpreting. This all-French programme of three very different works by Ravel, Berlioz and Saint-Saens continued the season in style.

Yannick Nézet-Séguin explores the London Philharmonic Orchestra’s palette in an intoxicating French programme, celebrating the restoration of the Royal Festival Hall’s organ. 

The Orquesta Nacional de España with violinist Veronika Eberle and organist Daniel Oyarzábal plays three nineteenth-century works: Berlioz's Roman Carnival overture, Dvořák’s Violin Concerto and Saint-Saëns' Organ Symphony.

Last Friday, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France and its musical director Myung-Whun Chung offered a wonderful panorama of French music: Claude Debussy’s impressionism, Olivier Messiaen’s abstraction and Camille Saint-Saëns’ romanticism.

Tonight’s Orchestre de Paris Prom was very much a concert of two halves, in the first of which they got to show their sensitive, introspective side, reflecting on the nature of life and lamenting too-early death, then becoming considerably more extrovert in the second for some free-spirited buccaneering, and what the programme notes describe as “vivid, prolonged and grand noise”.

The WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln put its fate in the hands of the younger generation for this evening’s concert. Conductor Kazuki Yamada is only 34. The original violin soloist was to have been Lisa Batiashvili, but she pulled out and was replaced by the 22-year-old Serge Zimmermann.

The title of the latest Sydney Symphony Orchestra concert was simply “Organ Symphony”, referring to the work which was to form the second half of the evening’s concert – Saint-Saëns’ “Organ Symphony” in C minor.

Former Hong Kong Philharmonic Music Director David Atherton returned to his hometown on Saturday to lead the orchestra in a concert entitled “The King of Instruments”, a reference to works on the programme involving the organ, an instrument rarely heard in the symphony hall.

It was a night that didn't augur well for those Hollywood Bowl patrons seeking the usual symphonic serenade under starlight. Los Angeles, on Thursday night, was seized by a sudden heat wave that was accompanied with stifling humidity more fitting for Manila or Saigon than the Hollywood Hills.

This past weekend offered a taste of the great British summer with temperatures soaring into the high 20s. And yet, despite the lure of an afternoon spent reclining on the sunny beaches of the South Coast, large crowds flocked to the Lighthouse in Poole to watch the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra perform in their annual Benevolent Fund Concert, led by Portuguese conductor Rui Pinheiro.

This was the showpiece concert of this year’s City of London Festival and took place in the spectacular surroundings of St Paul’s Cathedral. Three key French composers were featured, concluding with well-known 3rd Symphony of Saint-Saëns. The first performance of this work was conducted by Saint-Saëns in London in 1886 in the long-since demolished St James’s Hall.

Das BRSO und Organistin Iveta Apkalna widmen sich der Orgel abseits von Barock und sakralem Beiwerk.

Après sa tournée européenne, l’Orchestre national de Lyon fait son retour auprès de son public avec un programme mettant à l’honneur le majestueux orgue de l’Auditorium Maurice Ravel.

La Orquesta y Coro Nacionales de España, bajo la dirección de Marin Alsop, presentó con su particular caleidoscopio musical un interesante programa de obras inspiradas en las creencias de sus autores.

Au Septembre Musical de Montreux, Charles Dutoit galvanise les troupes de l’European Philharmonic of Switzerland et séduit le public par l’excellence de son interprétation.

Kazuki Yamada conviait Genève à fêter l’esprit français au travers de symphonies de Bizet et Saint-Saëns. Bravo aux musiciens pour cette belle soirée ! 

Es passt zusammen: Bratsche und Indianerweihen, Liszt und Saint-Saëns „Orgelsymphonie" mit Stéphane Denève, Leo van Doeselaar und dem Niederländischen Radio Filharmonisch Orkest.

Mit Faurés Requiem und Saint-Saens Orgelsymphonie bilden zwei spätromantische Werke das Programm des Chorkonzertes der Salzburgerfestspiele, in dem besonders der Chors des BR beeindruckt.

Das Gürzenich-Orchesters rückt nicht nur das Komponistenbild zurecht, sondern generiert in packender Wiedergabe neue Fans für Saint-Saëns' Musik.

L’Orchestre national de Lyon nous offre une soirée de musique française, avec pour invité d’honneur le jeune violoniste Daniel Lozakovitj. Au programme, des œuvres de Saint-Saëns pour orchestre, orchestre et violon, et la Symphonie n°3 « avec orgue ».