Saint-Saens' Piano Concerto No 2 in G Minor Opus 22 was
composed in 1868, and is widely considered his most popular
concerto. Having first learnt this piano concerto when
I was 15, I have performed it with orchestra no less than
seven times (at the request of orchestra's artistic directors).
The audience reaction is typically highly favourable (unless
the pianist really messes up!)
Incredibly, the second piano concerto by Saint Saens
was composed in 3 weeks. The first performance was given
by the composer himself and conducted with Anton Rubinstein.
The piece was not initially successful with the audience,
partly due to the fact that Saint Saens did not have enough
time to prepare.
The second piano concerto by Saint-Saens is in three
movements. The usual structure of fast-slow-fast is replaced
with slow-fast-fast. The orchestra is scored for 2 flutes,
2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 2 horns, 2 trumpets,
timpani, crash cymbals and strings.
The first movement is marked andante sostenuto
and begins with a slow improvisation in G Minor, in the
style of a Bach fantasia. This led to the comment by Zygmunt
Stojowski that the concerto "begins with Bach and
ends with Offenbach." After this quasi-cadenza, the
orchestra enters, and the melancholy first theme is played
by the piano solo (this theme is from Saint-Saëns' student
Gabriel Fauré's abandoned Tantum ergo motet). After the
second theme, a middle development section follows with
increasing degrees of animato. The recapitulation returns
with the main theme in fortissimo which morphs into a
long ad libitum cadenza. The movement ends as it began
- with the Bach-like opening motif.
The second movement of Saint-Seans Piano concerto in
G Minor is marked Allegro scherzando. Instead
of a typical Adagio, we have a leggieramente
scherzo in E Flat Major. The movement is energetic,
and, like The Carnival of the Animals, typical
of Saint-Saens' musical wit. The piano part is characterised
by many flourishing semiquaver passages all over the keyboard,
as is of considerable technical difficulty.
The third movement, marked Presto, is an energetic
Tarantella in the key of G Minor. The music is
extremely fast, featuring a strong triplet figure. The
middle section contains a famous passage of seemingly
neverending trills, that are a challenge to even
the best pianists' memory. I have personally witnessed
a famous pianist 'get lost' in this section, only to rejoin
the orchestra many bars later. The movement gains in volume
and ends in a flourish of G minor arpeggios.
I recently played this concerto in Cape Town with the
Cape Philharmonic Orchestra in May 2010. Click on the
links below to listen:
Saint-Saens
Piano Concerto No 2 in G Minor - Andante Sostenuto played by Jonathan Oshry
Saint-Saens
Piano Concerto No 2 in G Minor - Allegro Scherzando played by Jonathan Oshry
Saint-Saens
Piano Concerto No 2 in G Minor - Presto played by Jonathan Oshry
