Aldo Ciccolini, Paul Tortelier, Ulf Hoelscher - Camille Saint-Saens: Concertos (5CD) (2004)

I bought this inexpensive collection in Paris and I play it frequently. While I enjoy more the rich depth in the Saint Saens piano collaborations of Previn/Collard (EMI) and Dutoit/Roge (London), this five (5) CD value set offers his Violin and Cello Concertos, his Carnival of the Animals, the Introduction and Rondo, and other less well known compositions. One would expect this comprehensive thoroughly enjoyable collection to be available in France where Saint Saens is honored as he is not in America. Orchestras here perform his stunning Third Symphony ("Organ Symphony"), the Carnival, the Introduction, but most, if not all the rest, goes unperformed. That the rest is not performed is our loss. His virtuosity in piano, string and orchestral achievement grows on you. He is a composer who, for the most part, is under-appreciated except in France. This superb performance by the Orchestre de Paris can remedy that.