Saint-Saens: Symphony No. 3 ”Organ” (LP, Reference Recordings)

Saint-Saens dedicated the written form of his official third symphony to his friend Franz Liszt, who died a few weeks after the premiere in May 1886. The symphony was commissioned by the Philharmonic Society of London, which had previously commissioned Beethoven’s Ninth and Dvorak’s Seventh. For the then 50-year-old Saint-Saens, 27 years had passed since his last symphony. He then claimed that he could not write such a work again. He succeeded because he concentrated on the piano and the organ, of which he himself – like his friend Liszt – was a master. The recording was produced by Grammy winner David Frost and Prof. Keith Johnson was the sound engineer in charge. As always with albums from Reference Recordings, the sound is blessed with size and transparency and conveys a fabulous combination of room atmosphere and direct sound. The show of power of the gigantic organ in the Helzberg Hall in Kansas City, however, is only reserved for loudspeakers with the appropriate power. With Reference, you allow yourself not to cut the instrument in the lower registers and compact systems and mini-monitors are left behind. The half-speed mastering of the 45 LP was done by Paul Stubblebine. 180g vinyl in a hinged cover.