Piano Concertos (Nos. 1-5)
Camille Saint-Saëns
Stephen Hough / Sakari Oramo / City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra
Piano Concertos Nos. 1–5 Early 2000sPrimary recommendation (Nos. 1-5). 'Fantastic sound.' 'Wonderful, clear playing,' wonderful virtuosity. 'Beautiful, immaculate,' and 'colorful'.
Apple MusicJeanne-Marie Darré / Louis Fourestier / French Radio National Orchestra
Piano Concertos Nos. 1–5 Mid-50sNos. 1-5. 'A little bit more assertive and dramatic and powerful.' Mix of mono/stereo. 'Fantastic, just amazingly virtuosic'.
Apple Music — Complete five-concerto cycle; album also includes the Septet.Emil Gilels / André Cluytens / Paris Conservatoire Orchestra
Piano Concerto No. 2 Mid-50sNo. 2 only. An excellent version. Gilels is 'fantastic in this recording,' a 'genius of virtuosity, but artistically as well'.
Apple Music — Saint-Saëns’s Piano Concerto No. 2 only, on an album with Rachmaninoff and Shostakovich.