Saint Friend

A bright new talent in the classical world, the flautist Lisa Friend presents a new disc of romantic works, accompanied by piano, cello and violin. Lisa’s compositions and performances have drawn great praise from both professional musicians and concert-goers alike. Also featured on disc, performing with Lisa, is her father Rodney Friend, one of the most respected and celebrated English-born violinists of the last 45 years. Lisa Friend started playing the flute aged five. At 16 she studied in New York with flautist Renee Siebert of the New York Philharmonic. She was then awarded a flute Scholarship to study with Julius Baker in Connecticut.

In 2019, Alexandre and Jean-Jacques Kantorow’s recording of the last three piano concertos by Camille Saint-Saëns earned the highest praise around the world, including a Diapason d’or de l’année, Editor’s Choice in Gramophone and top marks and recommendations from the leading German web sites Klassik Heute and Klassik.com. The Kantorows’ orchestra of choice was the Finnish ensemble Tapiola Sinfonietta, and they have now returned to Helsinki to record not only Saint-Saëns’ first two concertos, but all of the remaining works for piano and orchestra.

Natalie Clein adds a remarkable collection of Saint-Saëns’ music for cello and orchestra to her impressive discography. Clein first came to prominence when she won the BBC Young Musician of the Year award in 1994; it is appropriate that she performs the music of an extraordinary child prodigy.