Camille Saint-Saëns: Complete Concertos (New Talents Edition 3) Yilan Zaho, Hayoon Choi, Arya Su Gülenç, Ilyun Bürkev, ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra & Howard Griffiths

• Camille Saint-Saëns (1835 - 1921): Piano Concerto No. 1 in D Major, Op. 17:
• 1 Saint-Saëns: Piano Concerto No. 1 in D Major, Op. 17: I. Andante - Allegro Assai 11:14
• 2 Saint-Saëns: Piano Concerto No. 1 in D Major, Op. 17: II. Andante Sostenuto, Quasi Adagio 08:24
• 3 Saint-Saëns: Piano Concerto No. 1 in D Major, Op. 17: III. Allegro Con Fuoco 06:17
• Cello Concerto No. 1 in A Minor, Op. 33:
• 4 Saint-Saëns: Cello Concerto No. 1 in A Minor, Op. 33: I. Allegro Non Troppo 05:34
• 5 Saint-Saëns: Cello Concerto No. 1 in A Minor, Op. 33: II. Allegretto Con Moto 04:56
• 6 Saint-Saëns: Cello Concerto No. 1 in A Minor, Op. 33: III. Un Peu Moins Vite 08:48
• Le Carneval Des Animaux, R. 125:
• 7 Saint-Saëns: Le Carneval Des Animaux, R. 125: I. Introduction Et Marche Royale Du Lion. Andante Maestoso 01:50
• 8 Saint-Saëns: Le Carneval Des Animaux, R. 125: II. Poules Et Coqs. Allegro 00:42
• 9 Saint-Saëns: Le Carneval Des Animaux, R. 125: III. Hémiones (Animaux Véloces). Presto Furioso 00:38
• 10 Saint-Saëns: Le Carneval Des Animaux, R. 125: IV. Tortues. Andante Maestoso 01:47
• 11 Saint-Saëns: Le Carneval Des Animaux, R. 125: V. L'éléphant. Allegretto Pomposo 01:21
• 12 Saint-Saëns: Le Carneval Des Animaux, R. 125: Vi. Kangourous. Moderato 00:48
• 13 Saint-Saëns: Le Carneval Des Animaux, R. 125: VII. Aquarium. Andantino 02:00
• 14 Saint-Saëns: Le Carneval Des Animaux, R. 125: VIII. Personnages À Longues Oreilles. Ad Libitum 00:39
• 15 Saint-Saëns: Le Carneval Des Animaux, R. 125: IX. Le Coucou Au Fond Des Bois. Andante 01:50
• 16 Saint-Saëns: Le Carneval Des Animaux, R. 125: X. Volière. Moderato Grazioso 01:16
• 17 Saint-Saëns: Le Carneval Des Animaux, R. 125: XI. Pianistes. Allegro Moderato 00:59
• 18 Saint-Saëns: Le Carneval Des Animaux, R. 125: XII. Fossiles. Allegro Ridicolo 01:17
• 19 Saint-Saëns: Le Carneval Des Animaux, R. 125: XIII. Le Cygne. Andantino Grazioso 02:50
• 20 Saint-Saëns: Le Carneval Des Animaux, R. 125: XIV. Finale. Molto Allegro 01:52
• Total Runtime 01:05:02

Info for Camille Saint-Saëns: Complete Concertos (New Talents Edition 3)

With the third album in the New Talents Edition, ‘Camille Saint-Saëns – The Complete Concertos’, the Berlin Classics label once again takes its listeners on a melodious journey of discovery through the world of the great French composer. Following the acclaimed debut with Leia Zhu (Vol. 1), which won the OPUS Klassik award, and the highly acclaimed interpretations by Jae Hong Park, Lionel Martin and Ben Goldscheider (Vol. 2), a new generation of soloists will continue the series from 24 April 2026, in what has become one of the most exciting edition projects in classical concert literature.

This unique series is made possible by the Swiss Orpheum Foundation and the Eppur si muove Foundation, also based in Switzerland, whose aim is to bring young musicians together with outstanding partners, thus enabling them to make a lasting start to their international careers. Promoting young talent has always been at the heart of the Orpheum Foundation. Under the artistic direction of Oliver Schnyder, a committee of internationally renowned artists selects soloists whose skills and personalities bring a new radiance to the works.

The highest musical quality was also the focus for the third album: with the ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra and the experienced, inspiring Howard Griffiths at the conductor's podium, four young soloists make their debut in an outstanding line-up.

First up is pianist Yilan Zhao, originally from southern China, who interprets Saint-Saëns' Piano Concerto No. 1 in D major, Op. 17 – a work that was already full of original ideas and emotional depth when composed by the young composer. From the dark interludes of the middle movement to the radiant outer movements, it becomes clear that virtuosity and thoughtfulness are mutually dependent.

Hayoung Choi, a multi-award-winning cellist from Bielefeld who performs worldwide, explores the Cello Concerto No. 1 in A minor, Op. 33. Saint-Saëns breaks the boundaries of conventional concert concepts with his experimental form. Hayoung Choi effortlessly combines lyricism and energy, rich colours and technical brilliance – making it clear why this masterpiece is an essential part of any cellist's repertoire.

Another highlight is the finale of the album: Saint-Saëns' most famous composition, The Carnival of the Animals. Virtuosic, humorous and surprising – animals such as lions, turtles, elephants and donkeys are portrayed musically in 14 miniature pieces. The two young Turkish pianists Ilyun Bürkev & Arya Su Gülenç master the insanely demanding piano part with impressive ease and enthusiasm. Both Bürkev and Gülenç have made a name for themselves as exceptional talents through internationally renowned competitions and performances, and demonstrate their ensemble playing and creative imagination on this recording.

Since 1990, the Swiss Orpheum Foundation has been promoting young musicians, giving them a stage and a boost for their international careers with partners such as the traditional ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra and conductors such as Howard Griffiths. It is precisely the close cooperation and mutual trust within the orchestra that creates an inspiring environment for new voices to develop.

Yilan Zaho, piano
Su Gulenc, piano
Ilyun Burkev, piano
Hayoon Choi, cello
ORF Radio-Symphonieorchester Wien

Yilan Zhao
Poetic and bold, the Chinese pianist Yilan Zhao conveys her art with a narrative force that is irresistible and utterly convincing. As the winner of the Lucerne Festival Fritz Gerber Award and the Kiefer Hablitzel Göhner Music Prize, she fascinates her audience with romantic lyricism and virtuoso brilliance. She is a laureate of the Rahn Music Prize and numerous international competitions, including the 70th Viotti Music Competition in Vercelli, The New York International Piano Competition, The Moscow International Chopin Competition for Young Pianists and The Marbella International Music Competition. In 2025 she recorded her debut CD with Camille Saint-Saëns' First Piano Concerto, accompanied by the ORF Radio Symphony Orchestra Vienna conducted by Howard Griffiths. It will be released by Berlin Classics.

She has performed at festivals in Asia, Europe and the United States, in venues such as the Grosse Tonhalle Zürich, Casino Bern, Kölner Philharmonie, Palau de la Música Catalana in Barcelona and the Alice Tully Hall in New York. She has worked with the ORF Radio Symphony Orchestra Vienna, Zurich Chamber Orchestra,

Musikkollegium Winterthur Orchestra, the Lucerne Festival Contemporary Orchestra, the Argovia Philharmonic, Orchestra del Teatro Carlo Felice di Genova and the Armenian State Symphony Orchestra, in collaboration with conductors such as Howard Griffiths, Roberto González-Monjas, Thomas Adés, Sylvain Cambreling, Marc Kissoczy and Daniel Somogyi-Tóth. In 2024, she collaborated and toured with the Swiss pianist Oliver Schnyder on two pianos, performing the Mozart Concerto in E-flat major with the Zürcher Kammerorchester and Daniel Hope. Her passion for contemporary music brought her to the stages of the "Sonic Matter" Festival at the Tonhalle Zurich, the Lucerne Festival and the "Focus" Festival in New York. In 2025, her performances in the Lenzburgiade Summer Festival and Davos Festival were received with great success.

Her stage presence was never confined in the realm of pianist. As early as in elementary school, she was regularly hosting events and winning competitions in poetry recitation and singing competitions. Later, in pre-college at the Juilliard School New York, she also became involved in acting projects. Her experience on stage led her to create the "Sunday Salon" concert series in Zurich in 2022. She curates and hosts the monthly concerts, which offer themed programs. In her performances, she plays the role not only of an interpreter who presents the music, but also of an ambassador of music in the context of life.

Born in Hunan, southern China, Yilan Zhao began her professional piano studies at the age of 10 at the Pre-College of Wuhan Conservatory. In September 2011, she entered the Juilliard School in New York and studied with Choong-Mo Kang, and in 2014, she began her studies at the Juilliard School in the class of Hung-Kuan Chen, graduating with a bachelor's degree with honors in 2018. From 2018, she studied with Konstantin Scherbakov at the Zurich University of the Arts, where she also graduated with honors in the summer of 2022 with her Soloist Diploma. To deepen her expertise in contemporary music, she completed the Konzertexamen degree in Neue Musik at the State University of Music and Performing Arts Stuttgart with excellency in 2025 under the mentorship of Nicolas Hodges.

Arya Su Gülenç
was born in 2009 in Bursa. She started her piano studies at a private music center when she was six years old. In June 2018, she attended Çev Sanat’s young talents project.

Arya Su received the first prize at the Varna International ‘Heirs of Orpheus’ Music Competition and Rome Grand Prize Virtuoso International Music Competition in 2017. In 2018, she was granted the second prize at the 9th Savshinsky International Music Competition in St. Petersburg, the first prize in the age category 7 to 10 at the Stuttgart 7th International Music Fireworks at Baden-Württemberg Competition, the first prize at the International Bilkent Piano Festival - Steinway & Sons Competition (under 16 category), and another first prize at the BV Festival of the Gulf Competition in San Marco, Italy. In 2019, she ranked first in the category of age 9 at the Crescendo International Piano Competition in New York, USA, performed at the Carnegie Hall and won the Grand Prize of the competition. She has attended various festivals and masterclasses in Turkey and abroad. She performed at the Nilüfer Festival in Bursa and Pera Festival in Istanbul in 2017 and the İzmir International Music Festival in 2019. She has attended masterclasses held by Prof. Tamara Poddubnaya, Prof. Boaz Sharon, Prof. Eduardus Halim, Gülsin Onay, İbrahim Yazıcı, Emre Şen, Prof. Mira Marschenko, Prof. J. Bernard Pommier, Prof. Elena Levit and Prof. Markus Groh.

In October 2018, she performed at the Pushkin Museum at the 15th Moscow Meets Friends International Festival in Russia organised by the V. Spivakov Foundation. In 2019, she received the second prize at the 7th International César Franck Piano Competition in Brussels, the Belgian capital. In 2020, she won the ‘Special Prize for Interpretation of a Work’ for her performance of İnci’nin Kitabı (Adnan Saygun) at the Anton Rubinstein Piano Competition (Düsseldorf) for the age category 8-15. In July 2021, she performed at the Enka Sanat Young Talents Festival. She performed concertos with the Cemal Reşit Rey Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Murat Cem Orhan on 23 April 2022, with the Antalya State Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Deniz Oliveira Erdinç on 19 May 2023, and with the ISSO under the baton of Rengim Gökmen on the occasion of the centennial celebration of the Republic of Turkey in October 2023. In 2023, she attended the 16th International Pianale Piano Competition organised in Fulda, Germany, for the age group 13-29, and became the youngest pianist to ever win the competition.

İlyun Bürkev
who started her piano education at the age of 4, continues her piano education with Prof. Burcu Aktaş Urgun at Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University Istanbul State Conservatory, with state artist pianist Gülsin Onay, and with Prof. Pavel Gililov at Salzburg Mozarteum University. She won the 1st place in the Mozarteum University Pre-College exam and became the first Pre-College student in Prof. Pavel Gililov's career.

İlyun Bürkev, who has extensive international performance experience and has developed her musical career by collaborating with world-renowned artists and institutions, studied with important professors such as Alfred Brendel, Piotr Paleczny, Milana Chernyavska, Björn Lehmann, Vincenzo Balzani in masterclasses. At the masterclass held at Mozarteum University, Alfred Brendel presented Bürkev with her handwritten cadenza. İlyun Bürkev, who has received awards in many international competitions, recently received the 3rd prize in the Jeune Chopin International Piano Competition organized by the Chopin Institute, and the Grand Prize and 1st prize in the International Concerto Competition at the Philadelphia Music Festival in the USA. He met Martha Argerich at the award ceremony of the Jeune Chopin Competition at the Montbenon Concert Hall in Lausanne and shared the stage at the same concert.

Despite her young age, Bürkev gave solo, chamber music and orchestral concerts in the world's most important concert halls. In 2023, she performed Beethoven's 3rd Piano Concerto in the most important concert halls of Germany with the Klassische Philarmonie Bonn orchestra. The opening concert of the tour, which took place in 11 cities in Germany, started at the Berlin Konzerthaus and ended at the Herkulessaal in Munich. In 2024, she performed the opening concert of the 52nd Istanbul Music Festival organized by the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts with the Istanbul State Symphony Orchestra accompanied by conductor Cem Mansur. In the same year, Bürkev gave solo and chamber music concerts at many important festivals and performed with the Mariinsky Orchestra and conductor Cemi'i Can Deliorman at the Mariinsky Theater. She performed with conductors such as İbrahim Yazıcı, Alexander Hülshoff, Rengim Gökmen, Tolga Atalay Ün, Hasan Niyazi Tura and Nil Venditti. While continuing her education as a regular scholarship student at the Lichtenstein Academy of Music, one of the most important music academies in Europe, for 2 years, she continues to take an active part in the concerts of the academy.

Hayoung Choi
is the First Prize Winner of the 2022 Queen Elisabeth Competition for Cello. She has also received First Prize at the 3rd Krzysztof Penderecki International Cello Competition and the Johannes Brahms International Competition, as well as awards such as the Landgrave of Hesse Prize, the Leyda Ungerer Music Prize, and the FENDI Music Award.

Driven by a deep musical curiosity, she is committed not only to the core cello repertoire but also to bringing lesser-known and rarely performed works to light.

​ Choi made her debut at the age of twelve with Camerata Salzburg, performing Haydn’s Cello Concerto No. 1. Since then, she has appeared as a soloist with leading orchestras including the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, Brussels Philharmonic Orchestra, Belgian National Orchestra, Antwerp Symphony Orchestra, Luxembourg Philharmonic Orchestra, Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, European Union Youth Orchestra, Kremerata Baltica Orchestra, Frankfurter Opern- und Museumsorchester, Poznań Philharmonic Orchestra, Kraków Philharmonic Orchestra, Boston Philharmonic Orchestra, KBS Symphony Orchestra, Orquestra Amazonas Filarmônica and Filarmônica de Minas Gerais. Highlights of the current season include her concert series as Artist in Residence at Lotte Concert Hall in Seoul; a Wigmore Hall recital with Alim Beisembayev; and performances with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Bremen Philharmonic Orchestra, Colorado Festival Orchestra, Brussels Philharmonic Orchestra, Oregon Symphony Orchestra, West Virginia Symphony Orchestra and the Basel Chamber Orchestra.

A passionate chamber musician, Choi has collaborated with celebrated artists such as Sir András Schiff, Gidon Kremer, Christian Tetzlaff, and Mitsuko Uchida. She regularly performs cello and violin duo works with her younger sister, SongHa. ​​

Born in Bielefeld, Germany, in 1998, she attended the Purcell School in the United Kingdom and later studied at the Kronberg Academy and the Escuela Superior de Música Reina Sofía in Madrid under Frans Helmerson, Wolfgang Emanuel Schmidt, and Ivan Monighetti. She is currently pursuing Baroque cello studies with Lea Rahel Bader at the University of the Arts Berlin.

Hayoung Choi performs on the 1707 “Ex-Starker” Joseph filius Guarneri cello, generously on loan from an anonymous patron.

This album contains no booklet.