Mark Viner – Alkan: Character Pieces & Grotesqueries (2023) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

Mark Viner – Alkan: Character Pieces & Grotesqueries (2023)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:17:45 minutes | 1,20 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Piano Classics

Mark Viner’s survey of the complete solo piano music of Alkan continues to turn up discoveries and reveal previously little-known or misunderstood sides of a protean figure in late French romanticism. Viner himself regards Alkan as ‘the most enigmatic figure in the history of music as a whole’.

The sixth volume of his survey focuses not on the grand cycles which have won this series such uniformly glowing reviews, but on sketches and miniatures which demonstrate Alkan’s capacity to charm as well as astound and dazzle his listeners. All these pieces are further illuminated, as before, by his own comprehensive booklet notes.

Several of them will be unfamiliar to all except the most dedicated of Alkan connoisseurs. Jean qui pleure et Jean qui rit is a pair of two ‘chamber fugues’ inspired by Voltaire’s account of a man who goes, with great ease, from a state of depression in the morning to making merry in the evening. The Capriccio alla-soldatesca also has a poetic origin, as a paraphrase of an evocation of a night-watch – the subject of Rembrandt’s most famous canvas – by Joseph Christian von Zedlitz. Le Tambour bat aux champs is its companion piece, underpinned from the outset by a relentless ostinato of drum beats as a noble theme emerges, dignified and laconic.

Better known, the Toccatina Op.75 can be counted among Alkan’s finest shorter pieces for the piano, demanding phenomenal dexterity and lightness of touch. At the other end of the expressive scale, Désir is a little fantasy, one of Alkan’s most homely-sounding miniatures, yet still coloured by his characteristic use of the ninth.

Previous volumes in the series have demonstrated to listeners and critics that Mark Viner is the pre-eminent Alkan interpreter of our day. Jeremy Nicholas remarked in Gramophone: ‘It takes a certain kind of temperament and a superior finger technique to take him on. Those who cut the mustard are few and far between. Mark Viner is such a one.’ Reviewing the most recent volume, he noted: ‘Viner responds to the composer’s unique voice with great sensitivity and imagination.’ The series looks set to claim definitive status.

Tracklist:
01. Mark Viner – Alkan: Petit conte (03:59)
02. Mark Viner – Alkan: Pour monsieur Gurkhaus (01:09)
03. Mark Viner – Alkan: Jean qui pleure et Jean qui rit, due fughe da camera: I. Jean qui pleure (03:22)
04. Mark Viner – Alkan: Jean qui pleure et Jean qui rit, due fughe da camera: II. Jean qui rit (04:40)
05. Mark Viner – Alkan: Toccatina, Op. 75 (01:47)
06. Mark Viner – Alkan: Désir, fantaisie (04:00)
07. Mark Viner – Alkan: Capriccio alla-soldatesca, Op. 50 (06:45)
08. Mark Viner – Alkan: Le tambour bat aux champs, esquisse, Op. 50bis (04:00)
09. Mark Viner – Alkan: Fantasticheria (03:44)
10. Mark Viner – Alkan: Chapeau bas!, 2da Fantasticheria (07:59)
11. Mark Viner – Alkan: 2 Petites pièces, Op. 60: I. Ma chère liberté!.. (04:07)
12. Mark Viner – Alkan: 2 Petites pièces, Op. 60: II. Ma chère servitude!.. (04:56)
13. Mark Viner – Alkan: Quasi-Caccia, caprice, Op. 53 (05:28)
14. Mark Viner – Alkan: Le chemin de fer, étude, Op. 27 (05:00)
15. Mark Viner – Alkan: 3 Petites fantaisies, Op. 41: I. Assez gravement (05:02)
16. Mark Viner – Alkan: 3 Petites fantaisies, Op. 41: II. Andantino (05:30)
17. Mark Viner – Alkan: 3 Petites fantaisies, Op. 41: III. Presto (06:09)

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