Saint-Saëns: Complete Violin Concertos Andrew Wan

• Camille Saint-Saëns (1835-1921): Violin Concerto No. 1 in A Major, Op. 20:
• 1 I. Allegro - 04:52
• 2 II. Andante espressivo - 02:05
• 3 III. Tempo I: Allegro 06:11
• Violin Concerto No. 2 in C Major, Op. 58:
• 4 I. Allegro moderato a maestoso 14:23
• 5 II. Andante espressivo - 08:42
• 6 III. Allegro scherzando, quasi allegretto 07:25
• Violin Concerto No. 3 in B Minor, Op. 61:
• 7 I. Allegro non troppo 09:34
• 8 II. Andantino quasi allegretto 08:38
• 9 III. Molto moderato e maestoso 12:14
• Total Runtime 01:14:04

Info for Saint-Saëns: Complete Violin Concertos

Concertmaster of the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal since 2008, Andrew Wan is recognized for the excellence of his contribution to great musical moments by the OSM. His first album gives way to passionate exchanges between violin and orchestra in works full of virtuosity and exuberance written by Camille Saint-Saëns, one of the great composers of the 19th century.

Dramatic, gracious and memorable!

"[Wan's] sweet, even tone and unshowy brilliance put me in mind of his fellow Canadian James Ehnes, while the longstanding working relationship of soloist and conductor makes for a happy partnership in the ebb and flow of these graceful works." (Gramophone Magazine)

Andrew Wan, violin
Orchestre symphonique de Montréal
Kent Nagano, conductor

Andrew Wan
was named concertmaster of the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal (OSM) in 2008. As soloist, he has performed worldwide under conductors such as Vengerov, Petrenko, Labadie, Rizzi, Oundjian, Stern, and DePreist and has appeared in recitals with artists such as the Juilliard String Quartet, Repin, Hamelin, Trifonov, Pressler, Widmann, Ax, Ehnes, and Shaham.

His discography includes Grammy-nominated and Juno award-winning releases with the Seattle Chamber Music Society, the Metropolis Ensemble, and the New Orford String Quartet (NOSQ). In the fall of 2015, he released a live recording of all three Saint-Saëns violin concerti with the OSM and Kent Nagano under the Analekta label to wide critical acclaim, garnering an Opus Award and an ADISQ nomination.

Mr. Wan graduated from the Juilliard School with three degrees and is currently Assistant Professor of Violin at the Schulich School of Music at McGill University, Artistic Director of the OSM Chamber Soloists, Artistic Director of the Prince Edward County Chamber Music Festival, and Artistic Partner of the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra. Andrew Wan performs on a 1744 Michel’Angelo Bergonzi violin, and gratefully acknowledges its loan from the David Sela Collection.

Montreal Symphony Orchestra
Since its founding in 1934, the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal has distinguished itself as a leader in the orchestral life of Canada and Quebec. A cultural ambassador of the highest order, the Orchestra has earned an enviable reputation internationally through the quality of its many recordings and tours. The OSM carries on that rich tradition under the leadership of its Music Director, Kent Nagano, while featuring innovative programming aimed at updating the orchestral repertoire and deepening the Orchestra’s connection with the community.

The excellence and vision of the OSM have been shaped over the years by its music directors: Wilfrid Pelletier, a Montrealer by birth and first Artistic Director of the Orchestra; Désiré Defauw; Igor Markevitch; Zubin Mehta, with whom the Orchestra toured in Europe for the first time; Franz-Paul Decker; Rafael Fru?hbeck de Burgos; Charles Dutoit, who collaborated with the Orchestra for close to 25 years and under whom the OSM achieved great prominence on the international scene; and, since September 2006, Kent Nagano.

Over the years the Orchestra has performed on more than 40 tours and some 30 national and international excursions. The OSM has carried out ten tours in Asia, eleven in Europe and three in South America. Under the direction of Kent Nagano, the OSM presented a concert at Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris (2006), did its first cross-Canada tour (2007), and in September 2008 Maestro Nagano and seven musicians from the Orchestra set off on a historic tour of Nunavik, in northern Québec, where their program included Stravinsky’s Soldier’s Tale narrated in Inuktitut. Kent Nagano and the Orchestra have appeared twice in Carnegie Hall (2008 and 2011), where the OSM played almost every year between 1982 and 2004 to sold-out halls. In 2011 the OSM took part for the first time in the Edinburgh International Festival. Kent Nagano and the Orchestra have together done a tour in South America (2013) and two European tours (2008 and 2014), and performed the OSM’s first concerts in China, in 2014. The OSM has made over 100 recordings, which have earned it some 50 national and international awards.

In September 2011 the OSM and Maestro Nagano inaugurated Maison symphonique de Montréal, the Orchestra’s new home. The construction of this concert hall was made possible thanks to the Government of Québec. The hall’s acoustics bear the signature of the firm Artec Consultants Inc., while its architecture was entrusted to Diamond Schmitt Architects Inc. in association with Ædifica Architects.

Inaugurated on May 28, 2014, at Maison symphonique, the Grand Orgue Pierre-Béique was generously offered to the OSM by Mrs. Jacqueline Desmarais. It was manufactured by the house of Casavant on behalf of the OSM (and is the Orchestra’s property), with the collaboration of architects Diamond Schmitt + Ædifica for its visual design. The OSM offers its varied audience an increasingly rich programming, one that consists of orchestral concerts, recitals, chamber music, and performances featuring the OSM Chorus and the Grand Orgue Pierre-Béique. Moreover, the OSM is recognized for the innovative projects that have marked it history.

During the 2008-2009 season, the Orchestra’s 75th anniversary, the OSM presented the opera Saint François d’Assise by composer Olivier Messiaen, which was awarded the Grand Prix (2008) from the Conseil des arts de Montréal. The 75th season additionally was the subject of the documentary Montreal Symphony by director Bettina Ehrhardt, named Best Canadian Film at the 2010 edition of Montreal’s International Festival of Films on Art. During the 2014-2015 season the OSM presented L’Aiglon, a work by Honegger and Ibert. The OSM figures also prominently outside the concert hall thanks to the broadcast of concerts on a variety of platforms, enabling it to reach thousands of music lovers around the world.

Kent Nagano
is renowned for interpretations of clarity, elegance and intelligence. He is equally at home in music of the classical, romantic and contemporary eras, introducing concert and opera audiences throughout the world to new and rediscovered music and offering fresh insights into established repertoire. Since 2006 he is music director of the OSM, a contract extended until 2020, and was General Music Director of the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich from 2006 to 2013. He became Principal Guest Conductor and Artistic Adviser of the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra in September 2013. In 2015, he will take up the position of General Music Director of the Hamburg State Opera and Philharmonic Orchestra.

The OSM has recorded nine albums under Kent Nagano, that include Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde (The Song of the Earth) with tenor Klaus Florian Vogt and baritone Christian Gerhaher (Sony), Mahler Orchesterlieder (Orchestral Songs) also with Christian Gerhaher (Analekta), works by composer Unsuk Chin featuring violinist Viviane Hagner (Analekta), Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No. 4 and Scriabin’s Prometheus with Alain Lefèvre (Analekta), Beethoven’s Piano Concertos Nos. 4 and 5 with Till Fellner (ECM/Universal), and finally, the complete Beethoven Symphonies of which Nos. 3, 5, 6, 8 and 9, already recorded (Sony/Analekta). Symphony No. 9 was recorded during the inaugural concerts of the Maison symphonique de Montréal in September 2011.

As a much sought after guest conductor Kent Nagano has worked with most of the world’s finest orchestras including the Vienna, Berlin and New York Philharmonics, the Chicago Symphony, the Dresden Staatskapelle and Leipzig Gewandhaus. The recipient of an honorary doctorate from McGill University and Université de Montréal, Maestro Nagano also received the title of Montreal Honorary Citizen in 2007. One year later he was awarded the Order of the Rising Sun, the most prestigious decoration given by Japan to a non-Japanese. In 2013, he was named Great Montrealer by the Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal, and he received the title of Grand Officer of the Ordre national du Québec.

Booklet for Saint-Saëns: Complete Violin Concertos