Carnival Fantasy—Salut Salon (Warner 554295)
You may know the four ladies in the chamber group Salut Salon (literally, “Hi, living room!”) from their virtuosic, hilarious and—dare I say it?—sexy YouTube video Competitive Foursome. John Zech of Composers Datebook asked, “Are these women the Harlem Globetrotters of piano quartets?” Carnival Fantasy is not their take on pre-Lenten festivals or family cruise lines, although there’s so much fun here, it might as well be. No, the reference is to Saint-Saëns’s imaginary musical zoo, The Carnival of the Animals. The Frenchman’s fanciful suite is a departure point for Salut Salon arrangements and mash-ups of fauna-related material; their Shark Medley quotes John Williams, Klaus Doldinger’s theme for Das Boot and Kurt Weill’s Mack the Knife (“Oh the shark has…”). How much fun can four females from Hamburg have? You’ll find out when we unveil this Choice CD on April Fool’s Day!
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