A prodigy, a polymath, and a man of prickly disposition: that was Camille Saint-Saens.
He was born near the beginning of the Romantic era, in 1835, and lived into the days of serialism, ragtime, and the home phonograph -- not that he necessarily approved of all these things, mind you.
Along the way he produced a large and varied body of work that includes some of the most familiar pieces in the classical repertoire, as well as others that are not so well known. We'll spend an evening with Saint-Saens' music -- sacred and profane -- this Thursday night.