Piano Concerto in D major op. 12

The mainclaim to fame of Alexis de Castillon’s piano concerto is the uproar it caused at its first performance, on 10 March 1872, by its dedicatee, Camille Saint-Saëns, and the orchestra founded by Jules Pasdeloup. Its failure is hard to understand today, in view of the work’s many qualities. The concerto is characterised by the free deployment of generous melodic material in a tender, intense and limpid Romantic style, underpinned by brilliant, yet measured pianistic artistry. In his Cours de composition, Vincent d’Indy felt that this work was the last to conform to the framework of the concerto, maintaining the relationship between the piano and orchestra without making sacrifices for facile virtuosity. This opinion, although no doubt biased, was indicative of the work’s eventual status as a touchstone of French concertante literature in the second half of the century. The Allegro moderato openswith a long, delicate melody on the piano accompanied by gentle arpeggios. This is followed by more passionate passages, revealing the concerto’s obvious kinship with Schumann’s piano concerto (the critics also cited Beethoven’s 3rdConcerto as a decisive influence on Castillon). The Molto lento begins in the orchestra with a sort of lassan (first section of the Hungarian czardas). This is then stated by the piano, before some more dramatic contrasting passages. The stormy Allegro con fuoco follows, swept along by echoing phrases bounced back and forth between the piano and orchestra.