Despite its unusual form - a structure with two sections, each comprising two movements that are to be played without interruption - this work from 1875 enjoyed great success from the start. In its balanced proportion of solo part to orchestra, it corresponds almost perfectly to the model of the “symphonic concerto” and numbers among the most popular concerti by this French composer. For the first edition of 1877, no less a figure than Gabriel Fauré undertook the piano transcription of the orchestral part - an optimal basis for Johannes Umbreit’s piano reduction for the first Urtext edition ever of this work. As for the Piano Concerti no. 2 and no. 5 already issued by Henle, Pascal Rogé, one of the greatest experts on Saint-Saëns’ piano works, also provided the fingerings for this edition.
