Composer: Charles-Valentin Alkan
Performer: Stephanie McCallum
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Toccata
Catalogue: TOCC0158
Release: 2013
Size: 251 MB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
Trente Chants: Suite No. 4, Op. 67
01. No. 1. Neige et lave
02. No. 2. Chanson de la bonne vieille
03. No. 3. Bravement
04. No. 4. Doucement
05. No. 5. Appassionato
06. No. 6. Barcarolle
Cinquieme recueil de chants, Op. 70
07. No. 1. Duettino
08. No. 2. Andantinetto
09. No. 3. Allegro vivace
10. No. 4. La voix de l’instrument
11. No. 5. Scherzo – Coro
12. No. 6. Recapitulation – Barcarolle
Deux Nocturnes, Op. 57
13. No. 1 Andantino
14. No. 2 Très vif
Deux petites pièces, Op. 60
15. No. 1. Ma chere liberte
16. No. 2. Ma chere servitude
17. Désir Fantaisie
18. Chapeau bas! Seconda fantasticheria
2013 sees the bicentenary of the births not only of Wagner and Verdi but also of the maverick French composer Charles-Valentin Alkan. Alkan’s music was little appreciated during his lifetime (1813–83), and in the century which followed, when he was largely lost from sight, but now he is increasingly recognised as one of the most individual personalities in all music.
The five albums he called Recueils de chants – miniature tone-poems which marry Classical constraint to virtuoso Romantic excess – provide an attractive gateway to his freewheeling imagination. This is the second volume of a two-CD series presenting the first recording of the complete Chants in over twenty years.
Stephanie McCallum is Associate Professor in piano at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music of the University of Sydney. Described by Anthony Clarke in The Bulletin as ‘one of Australia’s foremost pianists’, she has enjoyed an international career of over thirty years.
Critical comment on Volume One: ‘this is really fantastic playing – stylistically exactly right, with an individual voice [….] if you really want to get to know what this Alkan guy is all about, then Stephanie McCallum can really show you very well indeed.’ – Kenneth Hamilton, CD Review, BBC Radio 3