Yes, if we can go back to the time when saint saens was alive, we can interview him

Anything that we watch, and isn't LIVE, is "like being in a time machine", no? Then again, even live broadcasts lag.

Sure not that problem if you look closely at him you may discover that hi is too old, and he is age is 80 year, meaning that record was takin after 1910...... 😅🤔

@@omranalomari3571 yes

@@omranalomari3571 what?

*pianists and composers

I imagine if he actually met Chopin...

Just imagine if someone like Chopin lived to that age

@@Ace-dv5ce bro would've wrote 556 etudes , 1284 mazurkas , 289 sonatas

​@@Mehrshad84Or maybe he would put rossini,sibelius card and stop or write very little music.

I actually heard this very comparison being made on a podcast I was listening to some time ago, and according to what they said there Saint-Saëns was at least comparable if not arguably "more" talented. But supposedly his mother kept him away from the public eye, not wanting to repeat what Mozart's father did. Either way, incredible to hear him play.

Thank you for this invaluable information.

+Thierry Chaunu Many thanks for the additional information. I have updated the acknowledgements on this video.

+Jack Gibbons Thank you Jack, much appreciated (in memory of Sacha Guitry!) Yours sincerely

And one of the great youth prodigies like Mendelssohn and Mozart.

Hum, and what "criteria" would you provide to support your OPINION of these or conductors you point to? Interesting that you tie the Frenchman to the Russian, I've never heard of the link before. Wouldn't one of the great Russian teachers be a better link? Do I misunderstand that not long before Rachmaninoff moved center stage the Russians were trying to avoid European influences! Matter-of-fact Rach's teachers were those very same men! Therefore, don't you think, old Rach might be offended that you make this leap? I've seen some very "strange" conducting on the podium. For example, take a look at Valery Gergiev: kzfaq.info?search_query=valery+gergiev - no less CHIEF conductor of the Munich Philharmonic! The greatest all-around conductor IMO was Leonard Bernstein. But there have been and still are many great conductors. I would not dare to criticize someone so brilliantly gifted as Saint-Saens! My college prof, who taught us about conducting, was a genius, and he kept a tiny little beat pattern right in front of his chest. He explained that all the foofaraw is unnecessary i.e., all that wild waving of arms and dancing on the podium. He said that the conductor's job is to deeply understand the compositions, i.e., what the composer was/is trying to say. Then to teach it to the orchestra so he might influence the orchestra's interpretation. I happen to agree, what do you think?

@@mikekarren5010 I think you make a number of extremely valid points. I have studied conducting in my time. I never pursued it. My reaction to Saint-Saens' style might be similar to the reports I have read about Schumann's conducting, which everybody who wrote about it agreed he was a far better composer than a conductor. I note that Rachmaninoff had a third career as a conductor. I'm not sure Saint-Saens got lots of offers to conduct. Again, you seem to have greater knowledge of these matters than I do so I will defer to your expertise.

Rachmaninoff is nothing

true, but this recording from 1904 is splendid (considering that the contraption had only been invented about a decade before)

Oh, I couldn`t agree more; I am amazed that that is 1904! It sounds really good - especially when you bear in mind that it has had goodness knows how many heavy weight applications of steel needle on it`s groove! (Maybe thorns were used). The piano sounds far more natural than recordings I`ve heard from much later!

There is one recording of Brahms, but you can barely hear what it is being played

There is a recording of him playing Josef Strauss’ “Die Libelle”

@@klop4228 How sadly true!

where can I find the source of this information?

In the book Conversations with Arrau by Joseph Horowitz. Arrau said he had the smoothest scales he ever heard, but was an icy performer

Cierto. Bastante menospreciado en general, pero realmente un genio. En precocidad está a la par con Mendelssohn y a muy poca distancia de Mozart.

78 rpm , I think you can hear that. And Saint-Saens took fast tempi. ( My young years by A. Rubinstein )

Soit j'ai les esgourdes pourries, soit vous avez une excellente ouïe, dans le doute : bravo et merci !

How on earth did you manage to decipher what he said? I could not recognize a single word, even with the help of your transcript!

Italics Mine Not sure about everyone, but he was gorgeous...

Maybe those guys who propose the theory of the half beat metronome. This historic recording of a XIX century virtuoso tears their theory down to pieces.

Yeah, he's conducting himself play at the piano 😂

You can see Saint-Saëns playing here: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/g6dhmcmpzqmzhWw.html

No entiendo qué tiene que ver aquí Ravel.

In the Hall of the Mountain King in waltz ;p

Indeed, it is the Gipsy Dance from his Opera Henry VIII.

The first one is the opening of his second piano concerto

@@AdamGillett thank you!!

@@RRRRRAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH sorry for the wait! The other piece is Africa op. 89 (both on one of the last title card) - the Hough recording of the pc no. 2 would be my recommendation btw

@@AdamGillett Much appreciated, Adam! i'm going to enjoy these tonight.

Oui.

Actually is a young Saint-Säens

6:37

@@eatablelove Oh, thank you :)

@@tamillab1251 my pleasure!

Actually, there are

@@losttales364 Please, enlighten us.

@@losttales364 - No, there aren't any films of Rachmaninov playing piano.

It's an extremely hard piece. A lot of leaps in the left hand which are more than an octave apart. It takes a very professional virtuosic soloist to master this piece.

I think you left caps lock on...

You're absolutely clueless about Prince.

BRAVO!!!!!

@@zmf-lf8wf No he's not. What did Prince do that has lasting value.