In this year of the centenary of the death of Saint-Saëns, we are delighted to discover a symphonic complete integrating the two unloved works revealed by Jean Martinon in the mid-1970s. Symphony in A, composed at the age of 15, and the “Urbs Roma” symphony, Saint-Saëns has indeed composed five symphonies. Unlike Thierry Fischer (Hyperion), who had failed to renew interest in this repertoire, Jean-Jacques Kantorow and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra of Liège manage to find the right colors and proportions, in a more sophisticated approach than that of Jean-Marc Soustrot (Naxos), honorable substitute for Martinon. Thanks to Kantorow, the source of Mendelssohnian German romanticism, which Saint-Saëns had drunk in his youth, becomes clear. The CD of Symphonies nbone 1 and 2 is therefore the most revealing, but lightness and verve also illuminate the 1er splendidly lightened movement of “Urbs Roma”. An excellent Symphony no 3, with Thierry Escaich on the organ, completes the success.
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