This album is part of Mark Viner's ambitious project to record the complete piano music of Alkan, which is expected to span 18 CDs.
Composer Biography
Alkan largely withdrew from public life for about twenty years, during which he composed much of his finest music and translated the entire Bible into French.
Composer Biography
Alkan was a close friend of Frédéric Chopin and lived next door to him in the fashionable Square d'Orléans in Paris.
Composer Biography
It was widely believed that Alkan died in 1888 when a bookcase fell on him, though this has since been debunked.
Performer Biography
Mark Viner, the pianist on this album, won first prize at the Alkan-Zimmerman International Piano Competition in Athens in 2012.
Composer Biography
Franz Liszt reportedly felt uneasy performing before Alkan and remarked that Alkan possessed the finest piano technique he had ever seen.
Composer Biography
Charles-Valentin Alkan, born in Paris in 1813, was a child prodigy who entered the Paris Conservatoire at age six and won multiple first prizes.
You might also enjoy...
Close Up Classics
DG 120 – Piano 2 (1972-1983)
Sergio Fiorentino: The Legacy, Vol. 3
La Belle Époque
Findlay in Blue
Piano Recital: Rhodes, James - Bach, J.S. / Beethoven, L. Van / Chopin, F. / Moszkowski, M. (Razor Blades, Little Pills, Big Pianos)
Piano Book
Walter Gieseking - A Piano Landscape
The Key Collection: 3 Centuries of Rare Keyboard Gems
Melody
Zarebski: Grande Polonaise / Les Roses Et Les Epines / Etrennes (Excerpts) / Berceuse / Tarantelle
