The Carnival of the Animals and xylophone. From the beginning, Saint-Saëns regarded the work as a piece of fun. On 9 February 1886 he wrote to his publishers Durand in Paris that he was composing a work for the coming Shrove Tuesday, and confessing that he knew he should be working on his Third Symphony, but that this work was "such fun" (). He had apparently intended to write the work for his students at the École Niedermeyer, but it was first performed at a private concert given by the cellist Charles Lebouc on Shrove Tuesday, 9 March 1886. A second (private) performance was given
Carnival in Italy many press reviews at the international level: on top the italian director filmed a greenery-clad hermit for a cine-installation Alberi (Trees) that shows the interdependence between man and nature. It was exhibited in New York City at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMa) in 2013. In Milan the Carnival lasts four more days, ending on the Saturday after Ash Wednesday, because of the Ambrosian rite; it is thus referred to as Carnevale Ambrosiano ("Ambrosian Carnival"). The carnival in Verona is celebrated with a parade of "carri allegorici" on the "Venerdi Gnocolar", which takes place on the last Friday of Carnival,