Gábor Takács-Nagy conducts Saint-Saëns and Schumann — With Mischa Maisky

Gábor Takács-Nagy conducts the Verbier Festival Chamber Orchestra, joined by the charismatic and highly accomplished Israeli cellist Mischa Maisky in the Cello Concerto No. 1 and The Swan, both by Saint-Saëns.

The beloved Carnival of the Animals, which features multiple musical parodies of Saint-Saëns's contemporaries, was not originally meant to be published—but the work has contributed greatly to its creator's fame, both a solo showpiece and as a ballet accompanimen (notably performed by the great Anna Pavlova). The concert ends with Schumann's Symphony No. 4 in D minor, called a Fantaisie symphonique, which reflects the composer's desire to break out of the framework of classical symphonic structure.