Saint-Saëns: Piano Concertos 2 & 5 Louis Schwizgebel

• Camille Saint-Saëns (1835-1921): Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor, Op. 22
• 1I. Andante sostenuto11:16
• 2II. Allegro scherzando05:25
• 3III. Presto06:23
• Piano Concerto No. 5 'The Egyptian' in F major, Op. 103
• 4I. Allegro animato09:53
• 5II. Andante11:18
• 6III. Molto allegro05:49
• Total Runtime50:04

Info for Saint-Saëns: Piano Concertos 2 & 5

This album dedicated to Camille Saint-Saëns came about as a result of a sensational performance of the Concerto No. 2, performed in 2014 with the BBCSO. Convinced of the value of this, the label Aparté and BBC radio decided to join forces to produce, under the same conditions, the Concerto No. 5 to complete this transcendent programme.

Louis Schwizgebel, piano
BBC Symphony Orchestra

Fabien Gabel, conductor
Martyn Brabbins, conductor

Louis Schwizgebel
Born in Geneva in 1987, Swiss-Chinese pianist Louis Schwizgebel won the Geneva International Music Competition at the age of seventeen and, two years later, the Young Concert Artists International Auditions in New York. In 2012 he won 2nd prize at the Leeds International Piano Competition and in 2013 he was announced as a BBC New Generation Artist.

Schwizgebel has performed with orchestras such as the London Philharmonic, BBC Symphony, Wiener Symphoniker, Orchestre National de Lyon, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Verbier Festival Orchestra, Nagoya and Shanghai Philharmonic orchestras, and the Orchestra of St. Luke's (NYC) with conductors such as Charles Dutoit, Fabio Luisi, Marek Janowski, Louis Langrée, Fabien Gabel, Sir Mark Elder, Edward Gardner, Thierry Fischer and Vasily Petrenko.

In the coming seasons, highlights include performances at the Vienna Konzerthaus and Prague’s Smetana Hall, debuts with the City of Birmingham, Utah and Detroit Symphony orchestras, and returns to Macao Symphony, BBC Symphony, BBC Philharmonic and London Philharmonic amongst others.

Schwizgebel has played at major festivals such as Verbier, Progetto Martha Argerich, City of London and Bergen International Festivals and in 2014 made a hugely successful debut at the BBC Proms. He performs regularly in chamber music and recital across the globe, and in the coming seasons will play at London’s Wigmore Hall, Munich’s Herkulessaal, Fribourg International Piano Series, Shanghai Concert Hall and at the Berlin Philharmonie.

Schwizgebel records exclusively for Aparté and his first solo disc, Poems, featuring works by Ravel, Liszt, Holliger and Schubert was released in 2013 to exceptional critical claim. Germany’s Fono Forum gave the disc four stars and hailed Schwizgebel “a genuine virtuoso, a spirited young genius with real depth”.

Schwizgebel studied with Brigitte Meyer in Lausanne and Pascal Devoyon in Berlin, and then later at the Juilliard School with Emanuel Ax and Robert McDonald, and at London’s Royal Academy of Music with Pascal Nemirovski. Schwizgebel is grateful for the support he has received from the Migros Culture Percentage, Hans Wilsdorf Foundation and Mozart Gesellschaft Dortmund.

Booklet for Saint-Saëns: Piano Concertos 2 & 5