Saint-Saëns: The Renaissance Man

Camille Saint-Saëns’ most celebrated work, ‘The Carnival of the Animals’ is a work unlike any other, transporting the listener into a musical menagerie that includes a swan, a tortoise, lions and a plunge into a truly magical aquarium. It is presented here alongside rarely performed pieces including ‘Les odeurs de Paris’, a musical riot, with the addition of trumpets and children’s toys to convey the many smells of Paris. Early French film The Assassination of the Duke of Guise is one of the very first to feature an original film score. Written by Saint-Saëns, the music will be performed live alongside a screening of the film in a celebration of the beloved French composer. 

Note from Guest Curator, Steven Isserlis 

“Saint-Saëns was a marvel in every way. Poet, playwright, philosopher, astronomer, classical scholar, animal rights activist, and so on – the list is endless; and this was in addition to being a master pianist, organist, conductor – and of course, composer. In his own words, he produced music as an apple-tree produces apples – but what an amazing variety of that fruit! Reams of music, ranging from witty to profound, conventionally charming to experimental, grand to intimate – he is a composer whom it is impossible to pigeonhole.  We will hear a rich variety of his oeuvre, including a film score (the first ever written by a well-known composer); a party piece with toy instruments; his very last work – the most famous of all bassoon sonatas; and finally that imperishable jewel, the ‘Carnival of the Animals’.”