Classical Gems - Concert No.6 'Charles-Valentin Alkan' (Volume I)

Description:
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Intro : [00:00]
I. Alleluia in F Major, Op.25 [00:05]
II. Three Andantes Romantiques, Op.13: No.1 Andante in B-Flat Major [03:35]
III. Three Andantes Romantiques, Op.13: No.2 Andante con moto in C-Sharp Major [07:29]
IV. Three Andantes Romantiques, Op.13: No.3 Andante in G-Flat Major [11:30]
V. Marche funèbre, Op.26 [16:20]
VI. Trois marches quasi da cavalleria, Op. 37: I. Allegro Molto [24:49]
VII. Trois marches quasi da cavalleria, Op. 37: II. Allegro Vivace [29:58]
VIII. Trois marches quasi da cavalleria, Op. 37: III. Allegro [34:34]
IX. 12 Etudes in All the Major Keys, Op.35: No.1 in A Major [39:31]
X. 12 Etudes in All the Major Keys, Op.35: No.2 in D Major [42:00]
XI. 12 Etudes in All the Major Keys, Op.35: No.6 in B-Flat Major [44:36]
XII. 12 Etudes in the Minor Keys, Op.39: No.2 'En rhythme molossique' in D Minor [46:34]
XIII. Etude from the Encyclopédie du pianiste Compositeur (Etude sans Opus) [54:14]
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Piano : Laurent Martin
- Alleluia in F Major, Op.25

Piano : Alicja Kot
- Three Andantes Romantiques, Op.13: No.1 Andante in B-Flat Major
- Three Andantes Romantiques, Op.13: No.2 Andante con moto in C-Sharp Major
- Three Andantes Romantiques, Op.13: No.3 Andante in G-Flat Major
- 12 Etudes in the Minor Keys, Op.39: No.2 'En rhythme molossique' in D Minor

Piano - Mark Viner
- Marche funèbre, Op.26
- Trois marches quasi da cavalleria, Op. 37: I. Allegro Molto
- Trois marches quasi da cavalleria, Op. 37: II. Allegro Vivace
- Trois marches quasi da cavalleria, Op. 37: III. Allegro
- 12 Etudes in All the Major Keys, Op.35: No.1 in A Major
- 12 Etudes in All the Major Keys, Op.35: No.2 in D Major
- 12 Etudes in All the Major Keys, Op.35: No.6 in B-Flat Major
- Etude from the Encyclopédie du pianiste Compositeur (Etude sans Opus)
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Charles-Valentin Alkan was a French composer and one of the greatest virtuoso pianists of his day. He entered the Paris Conservatoire at the age of six, earning many awards, and as an adult became a famous virtuoso and teacher. Although early in his life he was socially active and good friends with prominent musicians and artists including Eugène Delacroix, Franz Liszt and Frédéric Chopin, he gradually withdrew from the concert platform after 1848, and he lived a reclusive life in Paris until his death. Like Chopin, Alkan wrote almost exclusively for the keyboard, although in Alkan's case this included the organ and the pédalier (a piano with a pedal board), of which he was a noted exponent. Some of his music requires a dazzling virtuosity, calling for extreme velocity, enormous leaps at speed, long stretches of fast repeated notes, and the maintenance of widely-spaced contrapuntal lines. His music has been reviewed as "ferociously" and even "impossibly" difficult to play.