“The breadth, brilliance and imagination of Saint-Saëns’ piano works never ceases to inspire me! The Op. 3 Six Bagatelles, his first published piano works, are fully mature, beautiful, richly inventive, and – with the final bagatelle – quite poignant. The Op. 72 Album includes movements that match the evocative mystery of late Liszt (“Carillon”), delicate ethereal writing that foreshadows the French Impressionist composers, and Saint-Saëns’ singular virtuosity. In his “Caprice” on Gluck’s Alceste, Saint-Saëns creates an astonishing variety of wrought moods from themes in Gluck’s opera. And the Rhapsodie d’Auvergne is endlessly evocative, explosive and engaging.” – Geoffrey Burleson

"Only a brilliant piano technician can perform these 18 knuckle–busters and Burleson is such a pianist...his ability and stamina to get through these and make music out of them is nothing short of amazing" – American Record Guide (July 2012)

Saint-Saëns’ first published works for piano were the vivid and characterful Six Bagatelles, Op. 3. Album, Op. 72 dates from his mid-career and teems with rich colours and textures – haunting and exciting alike. Elsewhere, in this third volume of the Complete Piano Music, we find the richly evocative tone poem Rhapsodie d’Auvergne, paraphrases, and some delicious encores.

Camille Saint-Saëns was a piano prodigy, eulogised by Liszt amongst many others, one of the most exciting and imaginative of composers for the instrument, and a central figure in French Romanticism. His facility to evoke scenes, personalities and colours was profound and his very personal use of baroque and classical forms was ingeniously eventful.

14 CAPRICE SUR DES AIRS DE BALLET D’ALCESTE DE
GLUCK (12:03)

15 LES CLOCHES DU SOIR IN E FLAT MAJOR, OP. 85 (03:14)

16 ROMANCE SANS
PAROLES (02:04)

17 FEUILLET D’ALBUM IN A FLAT MAJOR, OP. 169 (03:04)

TOTAL TIME: 75:14

Geoffrey Burleson has performed to wide acclaim throughout Europe and North America, and is equally active as a recitalist, concerto soloist, chamber musician and jazz performer. His numerous solo appearances include prominent venues in Paris, New York, Rome, Athens, Mexico City, Rotterdam, Chicago, Boston, Washington, Switzerland, England, Spain, and elsewhere. His appearances as concerto soloist include the Boston Musica Viva, Arlington Philharmonic, New England Philharmonic, and the Holland Symfonia in The Netherlands. A laureate of the International Piano Recording Competition (Silver Medal), and the Vienna Modern Masters International Performers' Competition, he was also the recipient of a DAAD Grant from the German government to support a residency at the Academy of Arts in Berlin. His recordings include the complete piano music of Roy Harris for Naxos.

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"A top-notch pianist. Burleson's piquancy and poetry blended beautifully."
– The Washington Post