I was hardly familiar with the chamber music by Camille Saint-Saens until I came across this new recording.
The music for your listening pleasure is as follows:
Saint-Saëns:
Piano Quintet in A minor Op. 14, with Andrea Lucchesini (piano)
String Quartet No. 1 in E minor, Op. 112, as performed by the
Quartetto di Cremona
For its latest CD featuring works by Camille Saint-Saëns, the award-winning Quartetto di Cremona draws on sixteen years of giving concerts and making recordings. Leading Italian pianist Andrea Lucchesini joins the ensemble for the Piano Quintet: the third movement of the work is presented here in the rare version adding a double bass (ad lib.).
The String Quartet, marking the transition into his late style, represents the first chamber piece in which Saint-Saëns leaves out his own instrument, the piano. Here, too, the music is beautifully presented by the Quartetto di Cremona.
Here is the Quartetto Di Cremona rehearsing the music of Saint-Saens:
