Camille Saint-Saëns: Piano Concerto No. 2 In G Minor Op. 22
A talented pianist and composer, it stood to reason that Camille Saint-Saëns would engage with the Piano concerto genre early on, particularly as, in France, the 'concerto brilliant' was very popular at that time. Saint-Saëns did indeed begin to compose his own concertos, however; he gave a clear renunciation of the 'concerto brilliant', declaring instead that 'the solo part of a concerto must be set out, and treated, like a dramatic role'. He realised this concept of a 'symphonic concerto'; in his Piano Concerto No.2 In G Minor , composed in 1868. The solo part is technically very challenging, and at the same time closely bound up with the Orchestra. Johannes Umbreit is responsible for the Piano reduction, based on the composer's own version for Two Pianos; Pascal Rogé supplies the fingerings for the solo part.