🎼 “Saint-Saëns’ Symphony No. 3 Reborn: Anna Lapwood’s Organ Brings Sacred Majesty to a Modern Stage”

In a performance that felt more like a resurrection than a recital, Anna Lapwood took the stage alongside a full orchestra for Saint-Saëns’ Symphony No. 3, the “Organ Symphony” — and delivered a moment of breathtaking transcendence.

With her hands poised over the keys like a sculptor over marble, Lapwood breathed a quiet, almost divine tension into the first movement. But it was in the finale — as the organ thundered like the heavens cracking open — that the audience witnessed something rare: a 19th-century symphony erupting with 21st-century soul.

Clad in a soft shimmer of rose and silver, Lapwood didn’t just play the organ — she became part of the architecture, part of the sacred machinery of Saint-Saëns’ vision. Her interpretation was not showy, but full of grace, reverence, and restrained power, drawing out the piece’s celestial heartbeat rather than overpowering it.

Critics say Saint-Saëns wrote this symphony with “death and eternity in mind.” On this night, with Lapwood at the helm, eternity didn’t feel distant — it felt like it was in the room.

In a world constantly rushing forward, Anna Lapwood reminded us how stillness, beauty, and brilliance can echo louder than any roar.