Saint-saens: Preludes & Fugues, Organ Fantasies

Despite his solid reputation nowadays, much of Saint-Saëns's music was underrated in his lifetime, and many of his organ works remain little known. Yet his prodigious talent as a performer was such that by 1858, aged just twenty-three, Camille Saint-Sa_ns (1837-1921) found himself at the console of Aristide Cavaillé-Coll's brand-new organ at Paris's La Madeleine - with four manuals, 48 stops and an unprecedented symphonic wall of sound at his disposal. He was to hold the post for some twenty years. Making his Hyperion début, organist Andrew-John Smithoffers a generous selections of works spanning over six decades and including the Preludes and Fugues Op.99, three Fantaisies, the Marche religieuse, Bénédiction nuptiale, and Cyprès. Performed at La Madeleine on the instrument the composer knew and loved (and using only the registrations available to him at the time), the results are simply thrilling. Not to be missed!

Price: $22.98