Macedonian pianist Simon Trpčeski continues his critically acclaimed concerto series on Linn Records with spectacular live recordings of Saint-Saëns's Piano Concertos Nos. 2 and 5, captured at the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall with Thomas Søndergård and the colourful Royal Scottish National Orchestra. Saint-Saëns composed the Second Concerto in just seventeen days before its premiere under Anton Rubinstein, balancing movements that glance back to Bach and forward to Fauré. The Fifth – nicknamed the 'Egyptian' – is his answer to the Wagner craze, weaving in a Nubian love song he had heard sung by boatmen on the Nile and even the croaking of frogs in its central movement. Two contrasting sides of a composer at his most inventive.