Saint-Saëns: Symphony No. 3 'Organ' & 'Urbs Roma' (SACD)

This is the second album with which the Orchestre Philharmonique Royal de Liège and Jean-Jacques Kantorow commemorate the 100th anniversary of Camille Saint-Saëns' death. After the impressive interpretation of the first two symphonies and the Symphony in A major, now follow the composer's masterpieces in the symphonic genre, especially the "Organ Symphony". Composed in 1886, the composer actually intended to dedicate the work to Franz Liszt, but the intended dedicatee died that same year. And so the title page of the score now reads "In memory of Franz Liszt." The symphony calls for a larger orchestration than its predecessors, plus the unusual combination of piano and organ - the two instruments favored by both Liszt and Saint-Saëns. Whereas the organ part, while not framed as for an organ concerto, does occupy a central space, especially in the grandiose conclusion. This brilliant work is flanked by the "Urbs Roma" Symphony, composed in 1856 by Saint-Saëns, who was only twenty-one years old. He wrote it for a competition, and the title was given by the jury. In the absence of a description by the composer, it is not clear how the music should relate to the title. Another mystery is why Saint-Saëns deleted the work from his catalog of works, even though it had won him a prize. as a result, "Urbs Roma" remained unpublished until 1974 and is still rarely heard today.