Camille Saint-Saëns was a child prodigy whose musical gifts showed themselves very early. He also demonstrated an exceptional intellectual capacity in all fields. His prodigious talent and great genius are perhaps best described by Berlioz' well-known witticsm «he knows everything,but lacks inexperience».

Saint-Saëns composed for seemingly every genre, always aiming for and cherishing formal and stylistic perfection. The aim of his music is elegance of melodic line and architectural beauty. It is also often characterized by an effortless, breath-taking virtuosity. This is particularly the case with his three concertos for violin. He himself explained: «I am going to defend virtuosity, the source of the picturesque in music.

Virtuosity gives a composer wings with which to soar above the commonplace and the platitudinous. Virtuosity is triumphant in all the arts...» His first and second violin concertos are remarkable reflections of the composer's youthful enthusiasm and this predilection for virtuosity. They contain many of the kinds of dramatic gestures to be found in the music of Liszt and Paganini. And one of the most impressive features of his third and last concerto (composed some twenty years later) is the way Saint-Saëns integrates the element of virtuosity.

The music is no longer divided into cantabile or brilliant passages; instead, the virtuoso character can appear at any time, to add drama, excitement or a decorative quality.

These brilliant concertos are interpreted by one of the brightest stars among the younger generation of violin virtuosos: Romanian violinist Liviu Prunaru. He is accompanied by the Ensemble Orchestral de Paris under the direction of Lawrence Foster.