Charles-Valentin Alkan (1813-1888)
Early Works and Juvenilia
Mark Viner (piano)
rec. 2023/4, Westvest Church, Schiedam, The Netherlands
Piano Classics PCL10298 [73]

One of the nineteenth century’s most enigmatic composer pianists, Alkan was born in Paris in 1813. By his early teens he was already winning prizes and accolades at the Paris Conservatoire and establishing a reputation for prodigious pianism at fashionable salon concerts. He subsequently developed a career as one of France’s leading pianists, became a close friend of Chopin and, after a period of rivalry with Liszt, developed a friendly camaraderie with him as well. By all accounts, he had an almost frightening command of the piano and was, reputedly, the only pianist before whom Liszt felt ill-at-ease to perform. Strangely, he gradually abandoned the concert platform and, after two recitals in 1853, went into seclusion to compose – also taking the opportunity to translate the Bible into French! There was a brief performing come-back in 1873, in a series of concerts focusing largely on the classics. This activity soon came to an end and he returned to even greater seclusion until his death in 1888.  His compositions seem to have dried up by 1876.

Alkan’s compositional output was extensive and what survives includes some quite extraordinary music, principally for keyboard (piano, pedal piano or organ) but with two chamber works (the Grand Duo Concertant for violin and piano, Op.21 of 1842, the Piano Trio, Op.30 of 1841) and two “Concerti da Camera” for piano and strings, Ops. 10/1& 2, of 1832 and 1834. (A single-movement third such concerto was reconstructed from the Andante romantique of 1873.)  The list of the composer’s lost works also includes an operatic single act, works for string quintet and string sextet (1840s) and a symphony for large orchestra (1844–46) – the last of which is not the same as the Symphony for piano solo, Op.39. Some of the peaks of the solo piano music have had several fine recordings. A lot of the rest can also be found on record, but performing much of Alkan’s music is not for the faint-hearted and it rarely gets concert outings or recordings other than in the hands of specialist virtuosos, such as Marc-Andre Hamelin or the present artist, Mark Viner.  

The present recording is Volume 7 in Viner’s project to record Alkan’s complete piano music, and it covers early works and juvenilia including Ops. 1-4, 12 and 16/4-6. Some of these early compositions give a clear nod to the mature composer’s output but the prevailing style here is more in line with that of Alkan’s other early contemporaries, such as Czerny, Herz and Thalberg, i.e. relatively superficial virtuoso display.  

Op. 1 is a set of variations, by the twelve-year old composer, on the theme of the Rondo Pastorale second movement of the so-called “Orage” Piano Concerto, Op.35, by Daniel Steibelt – a contemporary and rival of Beethoven. This was one of Alkan’s early warhorses and it seems to have appeared in several of his Paris concerts. After a loud opening flourish (warning – turn the volume down a bit first!) we get about forty bars of Steibelt’s theme, freely quoted, before the set of six variations. Nothing profound here – as might be expected – but this is a considerable achievement for a twelve-year-old. The recorded acoustic is a little more reverberant than would be ideal, with a slightly bright halo around the piano’s upper registers at higher volumes, but this does not detract from a splendid performance – and one soon gets used to it. 

Op. 2, the so-called “Omnibus variations”, gives us a clearer glimpse of what is to come and the world of the studies of Op. 39 is not that far away. This work bears the mysterious dedication: “Aux Dames blanches”, alluding to a comic opera by Boieldieu – after which was named a prominent horse-drawn omnibus company of the time. Viner, who is also the writer of the comprehensive set of booklet notes, theorises that, in all probability, the theme is that of the characteristic mechanical coach horn fanfare of the company. The racing opening puts me in mind of Schumann’s Toccata. There are three variations “which comprise all manner of fiddly pianism synonymous with the usual technical hijinks of the 1820s variation idiom”. The third includes an episode (around 3’50”) which might have been lifted from the soundtrack of a modern comic film. 

Op. 3 also opens with a fanfare followed by a relatively brief Rondoletto, based on the theme of a sixteenth century French nursery rhyme – known today as “Compère Guilleri”. Viner suggests that, like Op. 4, this piece was probably conceived as a chamber work because of “the sense of dialogue between tutti and solo passages”. However, the work has only come down to us as a solo piece. 

Not so the Rondo Brillant of Op. 4 – whose full title indicates clearly that it could be presented for piano with strings or purely as a solo piece. Viner’s research suggests that this technically prodigious work is the “concerto rondo for piano with orchestra” which was premiered (presumably in a two-piano version) in a salon concert of 1828 by the fourteen year old Alkan with his older sister, Céleste. Apparently, this work was published in a very limited run, alongside the “Rondo Brilliant d’après l’air Largo al factotum della cittá du Barbier de Séville de Rossini, Op.5 – now sadly lost. Viner says that elements of Op.4  “comprise material which carry the pianist to the very threshold of possibility, especially on the pianos of today”. The pianos of the early nineteenth century, whilst being less robust, also had a lighter touch. The piece is undeniably virtuosic but, though it must be taxing on a Steinway Model D (although you wouldn’t guess that from Viner’s performance) it doesn’t really sound any more demanding than Ops 1-3. 

Alkan dedicated his Op. 12 to the Société des Enfants Apollon and played it at the Société’s annual concert in 1833. Whilst the dedication suggests the composer was proud of the piece at the time, he chose to publish it in England. Perhaps he subsequently came to the view that it is somewhat less memorable than most of the previous pieces here. This may explain why the same opus number (12) was to be ascribed to the Trois Improvisations dans le style brillant, 1er Livre de caprices of three years later – although such duplication was not a rare occurrence with Alkan (see below). The work is placed last on the disc.

Op.16/1-3 consist of the “Trois études de bravoure” or “Tre Scherzi, 4e Livre de caprices” of 1837, together with the three sets of variations of 1834, numbered as Op. 16/4-6. It is only the 1834 trio that is presented here. The notes are somewhat confusing but, if I understand Viner correctly, the lower-numbered but more mature works (with the later date) must, presumably, have been in the composer’s mind prior to 1834 – to justify publishing them in this order.  Unlike the 1837 pieces, the 1834 sets of variations were also published in England. This may be because, as the notes suggest, the 1834 pieces are lighter and relatively unimportant, “crafted with the more modest abilities of the fluent amateur in mind” . If Alkan regarded all these later Op. 16 pieces as relatively facile, that could also have been the reason he chose to re-use this opus number for the Paris publication, around 1838, of six of his 12 morceaux caractéristiques – although the full set of twelve waslater re-published as his Op. 74. Facile or not the pieces are still highly demanding and there will be few amateurs who can disguise their difficulties like Viner can.

Two of the 1834 pieces draw their themes from operas. The aria upon which Op. 16/4 is based occurs towards the end of Act 1 of Donizetti’s Anna Bolena (1830). Op16/5 uses the cabaletta from Act 1 of Bellini’s I Capuleti e i Montecchi (also of 1830). By contrast, the theme of Op. 16/6 is the same Neapolitan barcarolle that Liszt used in the Tarantella da Guillaume Cottreau (Années de pèlerinage II: Supplément) S.162 of 1861.

Finally, we have the Variations a la vielle sur l’air chanté par Mme. Persiani dans l’Elisir d’amore de G. Donizetti – published in Paris in 1840 by Richoult, for some reason without opus number.This original title contains several peculiarities.“A la veille” is an idiom meaning “in the style of a hurdy-gurdy” and why Alkan chose to use this appellation is something of a mystery. Viner wonders if it was a veiled dig at Donizetti’s drone-like accompaniment. As for the reference to l’Elisir d’amore, the theme is actually from Ugo, Conte de Parigi. This was probably the result of Donizetti recycling a successful and popular number in a subsequent work and (presumably) expunging it from the earlier one. In any event, Alkan’s piece was re-named, accordingly, in the 1842 Vienna publication by Mechetti. The right hand of the piece is written so high in the treble register that it was beyond the keyboard length of many older pianos of the time, so that a modified version had to be provided in the earlier publication. This was deemed unnecessary in the later publication, when more new pianos (by, for example, Erard and Pleyel) were available. All is of hair-raising filigree difficulty and there is one passage (between 4’30” and 5’45”) that outdoes Liszt’s celebrated concert study: “La Leggierezza” in the elaborate note spinning of the right hand.

The disc comes in a cardboard folder, rather than the standard jewel case, illustrated with a Breughel picture of children’s games.

I don’t know how the planning of the overall Alkan survey has been approached. Suffice it to say that it has resulted in the present disc containing works all of a similar style and episodical nature (mainly sets of variations). As a result, the programme is probably better dipped into rather than played straight through. However, that does not detract from the considerable achievement that these performances represent. It seems unlikely that anybody will better them anytime soon – if at all – and I await the next volume of the survey with considerable interest.

Bob Stevenson

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Contents
Variations sur un theme de Steibelt, Op.1
Les omnibus, variations, Op.2*
Il était un p’tit homme, rondoletto, Op.3*
Rondo brillant pour piano et cordes, ad libitum, Op. 4*
Variations á la vielle sur l’air chanté par Mme. Persiani dans l’Elisir d’amore de G. Donizetti*
Ah! Segnata é la mia sorte de l’opéra Anna Bolena de Donizetti, varié. Op.16/4
Air des Capulets et des Montaigus de Bellini. (La tremenda ultrice spado), varié. Op.16/5
Variations quasi fantaisie sur un barcarolle napolitaine, Op.16/6
Rondeau chromatique, Op.12

*First recordings