Charles-Valentin Alkan : oeuvres pour piano

Description

This final volume of a revelatory series dedicated to Alkan, an English pianist known for a series of critically acclaimed albums featuring rare repertoire from the golden age of piano virtuosos, is a true feat. Arguably the most enigmatic figure in all of music history, and particularly of the 19th century, Charles-Valentin Alkan remains one of the most intriguing and fascinating names in the pantheon of pianist-composers. According to Franz Liszt, Alkan possessed the most refined technique he had ever seen, and yet he preferred the life of a recluse. The masterpiece of this album is the "Symphony" for solo piano, taken from the Twelve Studies op. 39. It opens with an Allegro, one of the composer's darkest and most passionate compositions, where declamatory rhetoric, fiery outbursts, and dizzying climaxes are linked by a rigorous structure. The piano writing, of a decidedly orchestral nature (hence the name "symphonic"), demands that the intrepid soloist forge a path through imposing chord constructions sometimes of ten notes, thick tremolos, and volleys of double octaves: only confirmed virtuosos are invited to try their hand at it! The Symphony appears on this album as the culmination of a series of grand marches conceived on an equally grandiose scale. Among them are the Three Cavalry Marches op. 39, where Alkan shows himself to be the most concise (in no. 1, of Berliozian inspiration), the most eccentric (in the trio of no. 2), and the most fanciful (in no. 3). Like these, the Funeral March op. 26 demonstrates Alkan's ability to channel latent, sometimes threatening power through material of extreme simplicity. The Triumphal March op. 27 that follows is an imposing and flamboyant work, contrasting with the meditative melancholy of the paraphrase op. 45 which opens Legouvé's poem, set in a cemetery and imbued with Alkan's most characteristic elegiac vein. A profound sadness also permeates the opening section of the composer's ingenious instrumental setting of Psalm 137, "By the rivers of Babylon."