Chopin & Liszt arranged by Saint-Saëns
Chopin
Sonata No. 2 in B♭ minor, Op. 35 (arr. Saint-Saëns)
24:241
I.Grave – Doppio movimento8:29
2
II.Scherzo5:47
3
III.Marche funèbre: Lento8:25
4
IV.Finale: Presto1:43
Liszt
Sonata in B minor, S. 178 (arr. Saint-Saëns)
31:025
I.Lento assai – Allegro energico12:13
6
II.– Andante sostenuto7:49
7
III.– Allegro energico11:00
With Hiroaki Takenouchi (piano)
Saint-Saëns made two-piano versions of the Chopin and Liszt sonatas — an arranger with every temptation to rewrite, who instead kept scrupulously to what the composers wrote. What the second piano adds is not new material but air: lines a single pair of hands must compress can be laid out, and the architecture of both sonatas becomes easier to hear.