Saint-Saëns - Carnival of the Animals, Organ Symphony

The Guardian 80

Argerich/Pappano/Accademia di Santa Cecilia
Warner

Saint-Saëns’s two best-known works were written in the same year, but while the Organ Symphony cemented his reputation, The Carnival of the Animals was kept as a secret, shared only with friends who he knew wouldn’t laugh at him for having indulged in such frivolity.

Soloists from Antonio Pappano’s Rome orchestra, the Accademia di Santa Cecilia have a high old time with it here, their playing brightly coloured and characterful; the roosters crow and the donkeys/critics bray with abandon. The two pianists are Pappano himself plus a very special guest: yes, that’s Martha Argerich you can hear hamming up the movement in which the peculiar species known as Pianists are observed murdering their scales. The Organ Symphony is recorded live, with Pappano conducting the full Santa Cecilia orchestra in a performance that maintains its momentum and punch through to a decidedly epic-sounding conclusion.

Related: Symphony guide: Saint-Saëns's Third (the Organ symphony)