“I told this Saint-Saens fellow straight: I’m the king, right? If you’re going to compose this Carnival and you want me to be part of it that’s fine, but I get to come on first…”
What is the collective noun for national treasures? Because there’s certainly a warmth or an ennoblement of them here in this UK export. There’s no shortage of competing recordings of Saint-Saëns’ charming cycle, but the combined forces of actress Olivia Colman, childrens’ author Michael Morpurgo and the irrepressibly talented Kanneh-Mason family make this one pretty special.
Back in 1949, Ogden Nash knocked out some verses to accompany the composer’s voyage through the animal kingdom – rollicking and rhyming in typical Nash fashion. Few have since dared challenge them. Morpurgo takes a more character-driven approach to...
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