Swans

Inspired by Saint-Saëns’s iconic piece ‘The swan’ (‘Le cygne’) from The Carnival of the Animals, cellist Mats Lidström and his son Leif Kaner-Lidström present no fewer than 24 ‘Swans’ from across the world and down the ages. Featuring composers as diverse as Fanny Mendelssohn, Orlando Gibbons, Ravel and Villa-Lobos, the album offers up two-dozen musical reflections on the unmistakable and much-loved Saint-Saëns original. The album offers fresh arrangements and transcriptions of works with a Swan theme, meaning that almost every work here is a premiere recording. Father-and-son duo Mats and Leif add two compositions of their own, each dedicated to the other.