Saint-Saëns: Cello Concerto, Bacchanale & Symphony No. 1 Astrig Siranossian, Philharmonie Südwestfalen & Nabil Shehata

• Camille Saint-Saëns (1835 - 1921): Cello Concerto in A Minor, Op. 33:
• 1 Saint-Saëns: Cello Concerto in A Minor, Op. 33: I. Allegro non troppo 05:53
• 2 Saint-Saëns: Cello Concerto in A Minor, Op. 33: II. Allegretto con moto 05:22
• 3 Saint-Saëns: Cello Concerto in A Minor, Op. 33: III. Molto allegro 09:28
• Symphony No. 1 in E-Flat Major, Op. 2:
• 4 Saint-Saëns: Symphony No. 1 in E-Flat Major, Op. 2: I. Adagio - Allegro 09:31
• 5 Saint-Saëns: Symphony No. 1 in E-Flat Major, Op. 2: II. Marche - Scherzo (Allegretto scherzando) 04:27
• 6 Saint-Saëns: Symphony No. 1 in E-Flat Major, Op. 2: III. Adagio 11:18
• 7 Saint-Saëns: Symphony No. 1 in E-Flat Major, Op. 2: IV. Finale: Allegro maestoso 07:15
• Camille Saint-Saëns:
• 8 Saint-Saëns: Samson et Dalila, Op. 47: Bacchanale 07:18
• Total Runtime 01:00:32

Info for Saint-Saëns: Cello Concerto, Bacchanale & Symphony No. 1

The year 2021 marks the centenary of the death of Camille Saint-Saëns, the French pianist, organist, critic and great Romantic composer. The cellist Astrig Siranossian, whose tribute album to Nadia Boulanger (Dear Mademoiselle, ALPHA635) recently attracted considerable attention, plays the first of his two cello concertos, composed in 1872, notable for the fact that it comprises a single movement in three sections, and for the thunderous irruption of the cello right at the start. She is accompanied by the Philharmonie Südwestfalen and its conductor Nabil Shehata, who is also an eminent double bass player – the principal of the Berlin Philharmonic in the 2000s – and deeply committed to Daniel Barenboim’s West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, of which Astrig is also a member. The tribute continues with Saint-Saëns’s Symphony no.1 (one of five he wrote), composed when he was only eighteen. The famous Bacchanale, an oriental-flavoured dance from Act Three of his opera Samson et Dalila, completes the programme.

Astrig Siranossian, cello
Philharmonie Südwestfalen
Nabil Shehata, conductor

Astrig Siranossian
Winner of the First Prize and several times winner of the Special Prize of the Krzysztof Penderecki International Cello Competition, Astrig Siranossian performs as soloist with famous orchestras. A regular guest of Daniel Barenboim’s, her musical partners are no less than Martha Argerich, Simon Rattle, Yo-Yo Ma, Zubin Mehta, Emmanuel Pahud, Daniel Ottensamer… The most well-known venues have already hosted the young musician: Paris Philharmonic, Musikverein in Vienna, KKL Luzern, Basel Casino, Dijon Opera, Flagey in Brussels, Teatro Colon Buenos Aires, Kennedy Center Washington….

Her Last recording « Dear Mademoiselle » a tribute to Nadia Boulanger, recorded with the pianist Nathanaël Gouin and Daniel Barenboim received the honor of the press and international medias.

Her previous recording got many prizes including the « Shcalplattenprize », the Musica Prize, Télérama ffff.. She is regularly invited by international TV channels and radios.

Since 2016, Astrig Siranossian is leading the festival « Les Musicades » taking place in Romans sur Isère, her hometown in France. In 2020 she created the charity project « Spidak-Sevane » to bring education and material to children in Armenia.

Astrig Siranossian started music at the age of three. Five years later she was admitted to the CNR in Lyon, furthered her studies at the Lyon CNSM in Lyon, obtaining her diploma of higher studies with distinction. She completed her training in Switzerland at the Basel Conservatory in Ivan Monighetti’s class, passing her Concert Masters and Soloist Masters Degree with flying honors.

Astrig plays a 1676 Ruggieri cello, generously loaned by the Boubo Music Foundation in Binningen.

This album contains no booklet.