The eight world premiere recordings included in this programme are played from a treasure trove of unpublished manuscripts obtained by Geoffrey Burleson from the Bibliothèque national de France, each of them filled with strong and imaginative ideas. Further virtuosic rarities by Saint-Saëns include a solo transcription of his exotic Africa for piano and orchestra, and fantasies on works by Beethoven, Gounod, Liszt, Bizet and others.

Geoffrey Burleson has an active career as a performing artist, and has performed in such prestigious venues as the Église St-Merri, Paris; the American Academy in Rome; the Sibelius Academy, Helsinki; the Dimitris Mitropoulos Hall, Athens; the National Museum of Art, Mexico City and De Doelen, Rotterdamas well as with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, the Arlington and New England Philharmonics, and the Holland Symfonia. He is a graduate of the Peabody Conservatory, the New England Conservatory, and Stony Brook University (D.M.A.), Burleson is on the piano faculties of Princeton University and the City University of New York (CUNY) Graduate Centre, and is professor of music and director of piano studies at Hunter College, CUNY.

‘a superb disc played by a very talented pianist who is more than able to cope with the Saint-Saëns’ myriad technical details and colours.’ – MusicWeb International on Vol.4 (GP625)