ZDF/Arte + Deutsche Grammophon

Lang Lang plays Saint-Saens

After his intensive exploration of Johann Sebastian Bach, star pianist Lang Lang is now devoting himself to the work of Camille Saint-Saëns, who himself was greatly influenced by the music of the Thomaskantor. The focus of the evening in Leipzig’s Gewandhaus is the 2nd Piano Concerto in G minor, which Saint-Saëns himself performed here in 1868. The premiere in Paris a few weeks earlier had not been under a good star – the Leipzig concert, however, with Camille Saint-Saëns as the soloist, was an overwhelming success. With the surprising solo cadenza at the beginning of the first movement, which seems like an homage to the music of Johann Sebastian Bach, Saint-Saens once again showed himself to be an extremely original composer who does not allow himself to be constrained by conventions and traditional forms. He was also an outstanding pianist, and the concerto demands almost superhuman skills from the performer.

First broadcast: March 24, 2024 at 5:40 pm on ARTE