Itzhak Perlman / Camille Saint-Saëns – The Birds (2023) 绘画 由 Noël Van Hoof

Puccini was Latin, and Wagner Teutonic,
And birds are incurably philharmonic.
Suburban yards and rural vistas
Are filled with avian Andrews Sisters.
The skylark sings a roundelay,
The crow sings “The Road to Mandalay.”
The nightingale sings a lullaby,
And the seagull sings a gullaby.
That’s what shepherds listened to in Arcadia
Before somebody invented the radia.

Saint-Saëns, who lived from 1835 to 1921, composed the “Carnaval des Animaux” in 1886, but, concerned that such a lighthearted work might harm his reputation as a serious composer, allowed only private performances of it during his lifetime.  Its public premiere took place in 1922, and it quickly became one of his best-loved works. The “Carnaval” is written for two pianos, two violins, viola, cello, double bass, flute, clarinet, harmonica and xylophone.
In the late 1940s, Goddard Lieberman of Columbia Records and conductor Andre Kostelanetz had the inspired idea of adding poetry to Saint-Saëns’ score.  Ogden Nash was their first and only choice as poet, as was Noël Coward as speaker for the projected recording.  The result of this collaboration was released in 1950. Many years later EMI released a new digital recording with Itzhak Perlman as the narrator. On this album, Perlman shows that he is not only a great violinist, but also a born actor and storyteller, with a rich imagination and a lot of humor. The “Carnaval” consists of 14 parts, and it would be challenging to depict each part separately in a drawing. But for now I will start with “The Birds”.

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Saint-SaënsPucciniWagnerItzhak PerlmanViolin