Alkan: Piano Music, Volume 1: 12 Etudes, Op. 35

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Bernard Ringeissen has the big technique and stylistic empathy to deliver outstanding performances of Alkan's weird and wonderful piano music. His well-received Alkan series on Marco Polo is now being reissued on Naxos, whose budget price makes it an even more desirable acquisition. Ringeissen plays with the energy necessary to make the music come alive. He's no Marc-André Hamelin, whose Alkan recordings are unchallenged, as we can hear in Le Festin d'Esope, which opens the program. But few pianists are in Hamelin's league, and Ringeissen shines in the hourlong Op. 35 Etudes, a dozen pieces exploring the major keys. Some are short studies; others are tone poems for keyboard, such as the 7th Etude, a description of a village fire. The 5th Etude is titled Allegro barbaro, published in 1847, well over half-a-century before Bartok's famous work of the same name, whose tremendous power it anticipates. A well-played program of enduring interest, it's marred only by subpar engineering. --Dan Davis

Tracks:

Le Festin D'Esope, Op.39 No.12
Scherzo Diabolico, Op.39 No.3
12 Etudes (Dans Tous Les Tons Majeurs), Op.35: I. Etude in A
12 Etudes (Dans Tous Les Tons Majeurs), Op.35: II. Etude in D
12 Etudes (Dans Tous Les Tons Majeurs), Op.35: III. Etude in G
12 Etudes (Dans Tous Les Tons Majeurs), Op.35: IV. Etude in C
12 Etudes (Dans Tous Les Tons Majeurs), Op.35: V. Etude in F (Allegro Barbaro)
12 Etudes (Dans Tous Les Tons Majeurs), Op.35: VI. Etude in B flat
12 Etudes (Dans Tous Les Tons Majeurs), Op.35: VII. Etude in E flat (L'incendie Au Village Voisin)
12 Etudes (Dans Tous Les Tons Majeurs), Op.35: VIII. Etude in A flat
12 Etudes (Dans Tous Les Tons Majeurs), Op.35: IX. Etude in c# (Contrapunctus)
12 Etudes (Dans Tous Les Tons Majeurs), Op.35: X. Etude in G flat (Chant D'amour - Chant De Mort)
12 Etudes (Dans Tous Les Tons Majeurs), Op.35: XI. Etude in B
12 Etudes (Dans Tous Les Tons Majeurs), Op.35: XII. Etude in E

Amazon.com

Bernard Ringeissen has the big technique and stylistic empathy to deliver outstanding performances of Alkan's weird and wonderful piano music. His well-received Alkan series on Marco Polo is now being reissued on Naxos, whose budget price makes it an even more desirable acquisition. Ringeissen plays with the energy necessary to make the music come alive. He's no Marc-André Hamelin, whose Alkan recordings are unchallenged, as we can hear in Le Festin d'Esope, which opens the program. But few pianists are in Hamelin's league, and Ringeissen shines in the hourlong Op. 35 Etudes, a dozen pieces exploring the major keys. Some are short studies; others are tone poems for keyboard, such as the 7th Etude, a description of a village fire. The 5th Etude is titled Allegro barbaro, published in 1847, well over half-a-century before Bartok's famous work of the same name, whose tremendous power it anticipates. A well-played program of enduring interest, it's marred only by subpar engineering. --Dan Davis

Customer Reviews:

Amen - great pieces.......2006-05-19

Tacky (the guy below me) said just about everything there is to say about this CD but I would like to add one other thing. As well as #7, etudes #10 and #11 are two of the greatest Romantic-era pieces I have ever heard. #10 will leave you stunned, I guarantee it. The ending might disappoint on first hearing, but once the meaning becomes clear, it is as powerful as any. Listen a second and a third time. #11 is the best possible answer to #10, an uplifting but never pretentious piece. Why more pianists don't play these two pieces consecutively in concert baffles me.

A lot of these etudes are great kind of in the same way that Mozart and Haydn are great (although the musical style is very different). Sometimes (the key word is sometimes) the music isn't necessarily the deepest thing you've ever heard, but its compositional prowess and genius and the sense of inspiration is so impressive that you can't help but appreciate the music. Same story here. 7, 10 and 11 stand out for emotional power and depth, but COMPOSITIONALLY just about all of these are masterpieces, in terms of never losing steam, always displaying a constant flow of musical innovation, etc. Far more inspired than most of Liszt's etudes in my opinion.

Alkan Joins the Pianistic Olympus.......2006-04-25

Charles-Valentin Alkan is one of the 19th century's greatest composers for piano. Busoni placed him next to Beethoven, Chopin, Schumann and Liszt. Sorabji described Alkan's music as having Beethovenian quality with Berliozian aesthetics. On his deathbed, Chopin requested his unfinished and unpublished drafts to be given to Alkan. This is a composer who has been respected by the giants of pianism and yet completely relegated to obscurity by the music cognoscenti and the public. This Naxos reissue of a Marco Polo release is one of the top-five essential Alkan recordings, with Hamelin's discography for Hyperion at the top. You will be hard-pressed to find a better performance or a cheaper recording of the Op. 35 anywhere else.

Alkan's Op. 35 Etudes seems like a fusion between the technical aims and musical substance of Chopin's and Liszt's Etudes. Each of Alkan's Etudes possesses not only a wealth of melody, but a high degree of individual expression and a pure Alkanian technical signature. Without a doubt, Chopin's lyricism was Alkan's greatest influence in these Etudes; however, one can surely detect Liszt in the overflowing bravura and knuckle-busting virtuosity. Upon acknowledging the sheer pianistic feats and exceptional quality of music in these Etudes, I'm inclined to believe they supplant those of Hummel, Moscheles, Saint-Saens, and even Henselt.

Consider the third study in G major: it starts off as a lovely harmonically stable Andantino, until an intense rift of drama interrupts and brings forth an infernal torrent of passagework that makes Chopin's Op. 25 No. 11 sound like a mere "Breezy Wind." Then there is the fifth Etude, a jaw-dropping and savage "Allegro barbaro" (no relation to Bartok), utilizing only the white keys. Rhythmically and melodically this is the most satisfying virtuosic Etude of the set, one that reaches astonishing tone colors in the impossibly rapid last section. The next masterstroke that balances technical objective with poetic content is the lengthy seventh Etude, "Fire in the Neighboring Village." This is the first "programme" Etude I'm aware of, narrating and suggesting a story like a symphonic poem. Forget the programme, though, because this music doesn't need it. Rivaling the violence, turbulence and heroism of Chopin's "Revolutionary Etude," this work takes on monumental proportions. Its tranquil first section is tender enough, but the tormented central section gushes forth with Romantic grandeur, brutality and anger. If this outstanding piece isn't evidence enough of the amazing virtues of Alkan's Etudes, I would point to the ninth in C sharp major, the "Contrapunctus," a resplendent quasi-Busonian work of Romantic polyphonic texture and Lisztian timbres. It presages Medtner and Godowsky. While I've failed to mention every Etude in depth, they are all worth an equal amount of commentary. I might add one final remark on the powerfully expressive tenth, though, the "Chant d'amour - Chant de mort." Its arsenal includes Chopinesque beauty and Haydnesque surprise. This surprise is so important that Alkan attached a Latin quote to the Etude: "When you expect light, there comes darkness."

Although this recording is invaluable for the featured Op. 35 Etudes, Bernard Ringeissen has raised his status even higher with the precision and interpretative clairvoyance he exercises in the two Op. 39 Etudes, the great "Le Festin d'Esope" and "Scherzo diabolico." I've heard Jack Gibbons, Marc-Andre Hamelin and Ronald Smith perform the 25 variations of the Op. 39 No. 12, and I must say Ringeissen's execution is by far the most agreeable, demonstrating clarity and dynamics that are lacking in other performances. I find Hamelin's delivery too fast and histrionic; and although Gibbons's interpretation is excellent, there is an extra suavity, rhythmic sensitivity and insight into the melodic lines that only Ringeissen has. For beginners to Alkan, this is definitely one of the best places to start, and the work takes its place in the pantheon of virtuosic Theme and Variations. Lastly, I must say that Ringeissen's rendition of the Scherzo diabolico is another success. He obtains a duality of devilish finesse and muscular attack, making it the best version I've heard.

Bottom line: Whether you're completely new to Alkan (as I was when I first bought this CD) or absolutely familiar with these Etudes, this Naxos release is a treasure trove of 19th century piano music. Alkan's Op. 35 is a vast reservoir of electrically-charged, thrilling, and expressive music. The exceptional quality of this music has convinced me that it ranks in the same group of Etudes as Chopin's, Liszt's, Henselt's and Rachmaninov's.

Ringeissen puts up a great struggle, Alkan wins in the end.......2003-06-18

My own private history gives a good example of the slow recognition of Alkan as a premier romantic piano composer. In 1989, after attending piano recitals for a quarter of a century I had never heard any of Alkan's works in concert or on radio. In that same year, Alkan made his first appearance in the novel "Au Pair" by the Dutch writer Willem Frederik Hermans. One of the novel's characters spent his time devoted to studying Alkan's music, which was described as unconventional and extremely difficult. A decade later, I finally had my first close encounter with Alkan after buying the John Ogdon issue in the great pianist of the 20th century series. Ogdon's performance of Alkan's "Concerto for Piano Solo" was certainly interesting, just like the Busoni concerto, but still has me wondering what really was so great about this pianist.

However, a year later the purchase of Marc-Andre Hamelin's first Hyperion Alkan cd completely changed my Alkan perception. Especially, after getting the scores of the music played, my admiration for both composer and performer knows no bounds. With my hands on all of Hamelin's Alkan, I was more than a little distressed to find out that he has no further plans for Alkan recordings. Le Roy se repose, vive le Roy ! Thus, a venture into alternative performers. Especially, because of their user-friendly budget, I was tickled by this disc and it's billing as volume I (of the complete Alkan catalogue?).

The disc at hand is a reissue of a 1993 recording on Naxos' sister label Marco Polo. The disc starts with Alkan's most popular work Le Festin D'Esope. This work is a real crowd pleasing theme with variations, an important element of Helen DeWitt's great novel "The Last Samurai", that contains stretches that I consider humanly impossible after getting Hamelin's edition of the score from Dover. Even though Ringeissen's technique is a few million light years beyond mine, he remains human and really struggles through some of these diabolical passages.

The rest of the album containes works that I had not heard before. Alkan's 12 studies Opus 35 are a blend between Chopin's Opus 10/25 and Liszt's Etudes d'execution transcendente, matching their technical difficulty without coming close to their compositional level. Yet, just like Saint Saens' etudes, that got the 5-star treatment by Piers Lane, Alkan's Opus 35 deserves more attention than it is currently getting. Both in his custom harmonics and in multi-layered piano writing Alkan really created a universe of his own. This universe is admittedly cruel since it poses technical difficulties that are hardly surmountable for all but the best of pianists.

Unfortunately, Ringeissen doesn't live in the speed demon realm of the likes of Pogorelich, Berezovsky, Luganski, or Sultanov, just to name a few non-Alkan players. Yet, most of the time his playing is more than adequate and enjoyable. Still, Ringeissen often has his hands so full, that many unique aspects of Alkan's music fall between the cracks. While a comparison of le Festin with Hamelin's version shows that Ringeissen does not get enough time to flesh out Alkan's sense of humor, many moments in the studies, where everything seems to be hitting the fan, lack the full romantic sense of heroism and bravura that the music exudes. Yet, while waiting for other pianists to jump the Alkan bandwagon -Pogorelich who is currently playing the even more obscure Martucci would be an obvious choice- Ringeissen's blood, sweat and tears should not remain un-praised.

Unfortunately, the recording quality is rather poor. The piano sound is metallic and the recording sounds murky in the denser passages. Moreover, all of Alkan's prescribed hammering results in an instrument that seems in dire need of tuning on some of the tracks.

Track Listings:

Track Listings

track listings

Track Listings

Silence to the Naysayers

Schubert: European Poets, Vol. 1

Somebody Loan Me a Dime

Kindred

John McMullan

State of Affairs

South Pacific/The Les Brown Story [Import] [Original recording remastered]

Stravinsky: Serenade In A/Sonata/Lieberson: Bagatelles/Wolpe: Pastorale/Broken Sequences/Passacaglia

Ten Doors Down

Rip Stop [CD-single]

The Creek Drank the Cradle