Scintillating Saint-Saëns: An InsideOut Revelation with the Park Avenue Chamber Symphony
In the luminous heart of Manhattan, the DiMenna Center for Classical Music once again proved why it has become a sanctuary for adventurous musical experiences. On this particular evening, the Park Avenue Chamber Symphony, under the visionary direction of David Bernard, unveiled Scintillating Saint-Saëns: The Full InsideOut Concerts® Experience, a program that stitched together history, virtuosity, and the irresistible charm of French Romanticism.
Maestro David Bernard describes the music with the Park Avenue Chamber Symphony as they present Scintillating Saint-Saëns at the DiMenna Center for Classical Music in NYC. Photo by Adam Bundy Photography Bernard’s trademark pre-concert talk, full of anecdotes that sparkle like chandeliers in a Parisian salon, set the evening aglow. Drawing on the orchestra’s storied legacy of innovation, community engagement, and deeply humanistic performance practice, he framed Saint-Saëns not as a museum relic but as a living, breathing spirit whose music still shimmers with immediacy. Bernard’s remarks, reflecting his own brand of raconteurship, reminded the audience how an orchestra’s essence lies not in abstraction but in storytelling — and how the InsideOut format, which seats listeners among the musicians, transforms the concert hall into an experiential agora.
Maxim Lando performs St. Saëns Piano Concerto No. 2 with the Park Avenue Chamber Symphony as they present Scintillating Saint-Saëns at the DiMenna Center for Classical Music in NYC. Photo by Adam Bundy Photography A charming moment occurred as pianist Maxim Lando greeted his former mentor, concert pianist Allison Lander, who had first known him at the Great Neck Music Conservatory when he was a bright-eyed three-year-old insisting on helping her carry music scores. Their reunion embodied the night’s theme: music as a lifelong, communal weave.
Camille Saint-Saëns by Eugène Pirou, 1880. Bibliothèque nationale de France, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Camille Saint-Saëns and the Architecture of Genius
A Composer of Chromatic Color and Contrapuntal Intellect Saint-Saëns — that protean titan of French Romanticism — occupies a curious niche in music history. Though adored during his lifetime, his reputation was later overshadowed by Wagnerian thunder and Debussy’s diaphanous impressionism. Yet as Harold Schonberg reminds us in his seminal writings, Saint-Saëns possessed a “clarity of intellect clothed in sumptuous sonority” — a phrase that perfectly captures the two masterpieces featured tonight.
Brass and Woodwinds of the Park Avenue Chamber Symphony as they present Scintillating Saint-Saëns at the DiMenna Center for Classical Music in NYC. Photo by Adam Bundy Photography Bernard’s program illuminated the composer’s intricate relationship with Franz Liszt, who famously championed him, and traced the evolving gravitas of the works as audiences worldwide continue to rediscover their architectural brilliance. In the spirit of Bernstein, Bernard invited listeners to appreciate how Saint-Saëns manipulates thematic transformation, harmonic rhetoric, and contrapuntal filigree with the mastery of a Renaissance craftsman and the technological daring of a 19th-century futurist.
Piano Concerto No. 2: Maxim Lando’s Brilliance in Motion
Andante Sostenuto: A Cathedral of Sound The concert opened with Saint-Saëns’ Piano Concerto No. 2, a work whose improvisatory spirit and neoclassical wit draw from Bach, Beethoven, and the composer’s own organist alter ego. Lando’s opening cadenza unfurled like a Gothic arch — dramatic, spacious, and steeped in 19th-century chromaticism. His touch was assertive yet supple, creating the effect of an organ prelude reincarnated on the modern concert grand.
Maxim Lando, Pianist. Courtesy maximlando.com As Bernard spun textures of diaphanous strings beneath him, Lando navigated each harmonic swerve with a rhetorical finesse reminiscent of the great French pianists — a fusion of clarity, steel, and aristocratic poise. The audience sensed instantly that we were in the company of greatness. Second Movement: A Pearl of Perpetual Motion The Allegro scherzando danced with crystalline lucidity. Lando’s articulation was mercurial, flecked with mercantile sparkle — the very definition of jeu perlé. Every figuration was sculpted with what one might call textured scintillation, creating an aural tapestry of elegance and precision.
French Horns and Woodwinds of the Park Avenue Chamber Symphony as they present Scintillating Saint-Saëns at the DiMenna Center for Classical Music in NYC. Photo by Adam Bundy Photography Finale: Tarantella of Fire The presto finale erupted with folkloric vigor, the rhythmic drive relentless, joyful, and feverish. Bernard shaped the orchestral response with his hallmark blend of athletic precision and emotional generosity. The Finale concluded in a jubilant conflagration, prompting an eruption of cheers.
Symphony No. 3 (“Organ”): A Cathedral Built of Light
Paolo Bordignon and the Majesty of Immersive Organ Sound Saint-Saëns’ Third Symphony stands as a Showcase Symphony, a summation of his artistic life. With Paolo Bordignon at the digital pipe organ — voiced and spatially calibrated through a surround-sound system — the piece became a living organism of color and resonance.
Paolo Bordignon, Harpsichord and Organ. Courtesy paolobordignon.com Bernard’s decision to incorporate a state-of-the-art digital instrument honored the composer’s entire sound world: majestic, mystical, and cosmologically immersive. Bordignon, celebrated organist and choir director of St. Bartholomew’s Church in New York City, infused each registration with French Romantic authenticity, from the ethereal whispers of the Adagio to the apocalyptic grandeur of the Finale. Adagio – Allegro moderato The first movement of the Symphony No. 3 emerged with the inevitability of tectonic motion—a vast architectural span in which Saint-Saëns seems to test the tensile strength of symphonic form. From the opening gesture, built upon the unmistakable Neapolitan tensions, David Bernard shaped the music with the deliberation of an artisan laying the foundation stones of a grand cathedral. The strings entered not as a mere section but as a collective breath, drawing listeners into a world where harmonic shadow and radiant light coexist in fragile equilibrium.
Bassoons, clarinets, and oboes with the Park Avenue Chamber Symphony as they present Scintillating Saint-Saëns at the DiMenna Center for Classical Music in NYC. Photo by Adam Bundy Photography As the movement unfolded, its contrapuntal layers intertwined with clarity, revealing voices often submerged beneath the surface. Bernard’s pacing allowed each structural arch to rise with organic purpose, while the orchestra’s deft handling of Saint-Saëns’s shifting textures suggested a rare fusion of emotion illuminated by intellect. In those moments when the music surged toward its first great climax, one felt a pulse of existence vibrating through the ensemble. It was a movement not merely performed but inhabited, a vast psychological landscape rendered with both precision and profound inner life.
David Bernard conducts the Saint-Saëns Piano Concerto No. 2, featuring Pianist Maxim Lando with the Park Avenue Chamber Symphony as they present Scintillating Saint-Saëns at the DiMenna Center for Classical Music in NYC. Photo by Adam Bundy Photography Adagio: A Meditation in Tonal Opalescence The slow movement floated in an iridescent haze, strings and organ weaving a transcendent dialogue. Here, the InsideOut format achieved its purpose: listeners inside the orchestra felt the vibrations as if inside the body of a great cathedral. It was a moment of spiritual osmosis. Scherzo: Virtuosic Alchemy The scherzo’s contrapuntal labyrinths, punctuated by brilliance from pianists Maxim Lando and Keyi Wang, showcased Saint-Saëns’ genius for structural acuity. Bernard shaped the movement as a kaleidoscopic fugato, emphasizing the composer’s sophistication while never sacrificing kinetic sparkle. Finale: A Triumph of the Human Spirit The Maestoso burst forth with the organ’s radiant C-major proclamation. It was overwhelming in the best sense — seismic yet tender, monumental yet personal. As the orchestra surged toward its blazing apotheosis, one felt the entire hall transforming into a collective heartbeat.
Organist Paolo Bordignon performs in Saint-Saëns' Symphony No. 3 with the Park Avenue Chamber Symphony as they present Scintillating Saint-Saëns at the DiMenna Center for Classical Music in NYC. Photo by Adam Bundy Photography The Park Avenue Chamber Symphony: A Legacy of Excellence With its storied history, innovative outreach, and associations with world-renowned guest artists, the Park Avenue Chamber Symphony continues to redefine what an orchestra can be. Bernard’s stewardship combines intellectual rigor with human warmth — a reminder that classical music, when presented with imagination, becomes a deeply communal, life-affirming force.
A Season of Musical Revelations Awaits
If this evening's triumph serves as prologue, the Park Avenue Chamber Symphony's 2025-26 season promises a series of musical revelations that will further cement the orchestra's position as one of New York's most vital cultural institutions. The season ahead unfolds like a carefully curated conversation between epochs and aesthetics, each concert offering its own unique dialogue with the musical canon. Of particular note is the December 2025 concert, which promises to be a seasonal jewel in the orchestra's crown. This program will undoubtedly weave together the festive spirit with the profound musical intelligence that Bernard and his ensemble bring to every performance. This musical celebration of Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker will surely transport audiences into that liminal space where time suspends and music speaks directly to the soul. Moreover, with the Family InsideOut Concerts® format continuing to dissolve boundaries between performer and listener, each concert becomes not merely an event to attend but a musical journey to inhabit—a chance to sit within the very heart of the orchestra and feel the music pulse through one's being. For those who understand that great music-making requires not just excellence but also vision, not just technique but also soul, the Park Avenue Chamber Symphony's upcoming season represents an essential pilgrimage, with December's concert standing as a particularly luminous waystation on that journey toward musical enlightenment.
Maestro David David Bernard engaging with the audience at an InsideOut Concert with the Park Avenue Chamber Symphony at the DiMenna Center for Classical Music in New York City. Photo Courtesy Park Avenue Chamber Symphony
Scintillating Saint-Saëns: An InsideOut Revelation with the Park Avenue Chamber Symphony
Park Avenue Chamber Symphony 875 5th Avenue New York, NY 10065 (917) 740-7227 Official Website Tickets & Season Information: https://www.eventbrite.com/cc/park-avenue-chamber-symphony-2025-26-season-events-4325463 Venue: All concerts are held at the DiMenna Center for Classical Music 450 West 37th Street, New York, NY 10018 Donate: https://chambersymphony.com/donate
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