Saint-Saëns once claimed he produced music ‘as an apple tree produces apples’, revelling in his ability to conjure virtually anything to order. He was also happy to oblige his audience at the age of 10 with any Beethoven sonata, offered as an encore after his recitals. Once considered ‘the French Mozart’, it became quickly apparent that he wrote too quickly and easily; and, wading through Vol 1 of Geoffrey Burleson’s Saint-Saëns cycle, it becomes difficult to imagine many of these etudes enjoying a lasting place in a pianist’s repertoire. Too few cross the Rubicon from pragmatism to poetry and there is little here to suggest comparison with the genius, say, of Chopin’s or Debussy’s etudes. However, those anxious to turn away from too much note-spinning, evoking frustrating hours in the practice room (the tireless pursuit of eager-fingered Paris Conservatoire students to hone their technique to jeu perlé perfection), should turn to the first study from Op 52, a virtuoso curtain-raiser, to the first Prelude and Fugue from the same opus and to ‘En forme de valse’, with its dizzying gyrations. ‘Les cloches de Las Palmas’ is surprisingly haunting and evocative (though insufficiently so from Burleson) and the Toccata from the Fifth Piano Concerto provides a truly dazzling finish to the set.

Vol 2 is more satisfying, including the solo version of the first movement from the Third Concerto, the Allegro appassionato and the Theme and Variations (a piece all aglitter, with a bouncing Gilbert and Sullivan-type finish). Throughout, Burleson is an able rather than coruscating pianist, not without moments of strain and lacking the transcending quality of a Cortot (whose performance of ‘En forme de valse’ aroused Horowitz’s envy), Cherkassky at his most mercurial in the early Prelude and Fugue or Jeanne Marie-Darré in her iconic recording of the Third Concerto. But these are miscellaneous offerings and I wish Burleson well as he continues his journey through so much devilish but not always rewarding intricacy. His opening salvos are admirably presented and recorded by Grand Piano.