When the dynamic French pianist Jean–Yves Thibaudet appears with Britain's Royal Philharmonic Orchestra on Friday, he will be fulfilling two great joys.

The first is performing a work rarely seen on the concert circuit: Saint-Saëns' Piano Concerto No. 5 in F major, Op. 103, "The Egyptian."

The second will be performing with his musical mentor, conductor Charles Dutoit.

That Thibaudet is keen on Saint-Saëns is no surprise. The composer's work is deeply esteemed by the French. In fact, Thibaudet often likens the composer to a musical genius.

But the Fifth, the last concerto Saint-Saëns wrote, has languished in relative obscurity even among his countrymen, Thibaudet said via phone from his home in Los Angeles.

Thibaudet and the Royal Philharmonic will perform at the Mondavi Center's Jackson Hall in a program that includes Berlioz's "Le Corsaire" Overture and Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 5 in E minor.

The Saint-Saëns concerto has become something of a signature piece for Thibaudet. Like much in his career, he owes his awareness of the concerto to Dutoit.

"It's a great piece … actually I learned it for him," said Thibaudet. "Charles and I have done this piece many times together, and we've even recorded it."

Thibaudet is a pianist of great talent – he performed his first public concert at age 7. At age 18 he won the prestigious Young Concert Artists Auditions in New York City.

Even with prodigious talent, Thibaudet said, his career would not be where it is today without the advocacy of Dutoit.

From 1991 to 2001, Dutoit was music director of the Orchestre National de France, and he assumed the role of principal conductor and artistic director of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in 2009.

Dutoit first took a chance on Thibaudet in 1986 during his time as conductor of the Montreal Symphony.

"He gave me that first break, and he does that with many young musicians," Thibaudet said. "He has been the conductor that has helped me the most in my career. Wherever he has conducted he has asked for me."

The list of orchestras to which Dutoit has opened doors for Thibaudet is long and includes the New York Philharmonic, the Boston Symphony and the NHK Symphony Orchestra in Japan.

"Of course I had to play well. If I was playing like a pig he would not keep inviting me," Thibaudet said.

The Swiss-born Dutoit has even opened doors for Thibaudet in his native France.

"Even the big Parisian orchestras like the National de France had never invited me," said Thibaudet. "But with Charles conducting there – he made sure to invite me."

Friday's concert will offer the opportunity to see conductor and soloist embrace a lesser-known work.

"I think I'm one of the rare pianists who plays the concerto," said Thibaudet. "Even pianists, when you ask them, think there are only four piano concertos by Saint-Saëns."

The work was written in 1896, and the "Egyptian" name stems from Saint-Saëns having composed it in the Egyptian town of Luxor while on winter vacation. The Gallic nature of the concerto is its greatest appeal, Thibaudet said.

"There is something special and unique about French music … it's a special French sound," he said. "There is a certain color to the strings, it's a sound that has a lot of air to it. It's not a heavy sound like a Brahms or Bruckner concerto."

D. Kern Holoman, former conductor of the UC Davis Symphony Orchestra and author of one of the definitive books on Berlioz, believes there is a good reason why the piano concerto is not performed often.

"Saint-Saëns' output was immense, and by some standards not especially progressive, which may be one explanation for why his work, as a whole, and 'The Egyptian' concerto, may be under-represented in the current orchestral repertoire," said Holoman. "In the context of what else was happening in the years leading up to World War I, it's a little old-fashioned."

But attitudes toward Saint-Saëns may be changing.

"There's a great deal of interest in Saint-Saëns today," Holoman said. "And the dazzling control of classical styles that made him a darling of French orchestral circles – to say nothing of prodigious technical gifts on the order of Mozart's – continue to be attractive today."

Saint-Saëns was a talented pianist in his own right and wrote this piece for himself as a forum to show off his skills.

"It is very demanding technically," Thibaudet said.

Despite being a huge fan of the composer's music, Thibaudet said there are reasons Saint-Saëns frequently gets passed over as a composer.

"I think this might be due to the fact that not all of his works exist at the same level of quality," Thibaudet said. "He wrote some really beautiful pieces, like the second piano concerto, then there is the opera 'Samson and Delilah.' These are of the greatest caliber … and then there are some things that you feel he wrote so quickly – and some of these are not that interesting musically."

ROYAL PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA

• Jean-Yves Thibaudet, piano

When: 8 p.m., Friday

Where: Jackson Hall, Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts, UC Davis

Tickets: $50-$89

Information: (530) 754-2787; www.MondaviArts.org

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