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JACK GIBBONS plays ALKAN
"Allegro Barbaro"
(Douze Etudes dans les Tons Majeurs, Op.35, no.5)Performance copyright Jack Gibbons 2006
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The life and works of Charles-Valentin Alkan (1813-1888) seem surrounded in mystery and legend. Born in Paris, Alkan was a quite extraordinary child prodigy who later became a close friend and neighbour of Chopin with whom he shared concerts in Paris in the 1830s and 40s. As his spectacular Allegro Barbaro indicates, he was blessed with a phenomenal technique (Liszt once declared that Alkan had the finest technique he had ever known); however, he was too introverted to be a successful performer, preferring instead the quieter life of a composer and teacher. He rarely ventured from his native Paris. When he died he left behind a remarkable legacy of compositions, mostly for piano, many of which were never performed in his lifetime. Through the printed page Alkan has continued to influence future generations of composers - particularly Debussy and Ravel, both of whom made a special study of his music - but it is only recently that his own forgotten masterpieces (such as the monumental Concerto for Solo Piano and Symphony for Solo Piano) have begun to reach a wider public after more than a century of neglect..
Charles-Valentin Alkan
Copies of Jack Gibbons' highly acclaimed 2 CD recording of Alkan's "Studies In The Minor Keys" Op. 39, plus a selection of Alkan's delightful miniatures, can be ordered from Amazon.com's web site which can be visited by clicking on the image below, which takes you to Amazon.com's music sampler page for this disc.
Critics Choice, Gramophone Dec.1995
HMV Good CD guide recommendation
"Staggering… among the most exhilarating feats of pianism I've heard on disc... Jack Gibbons proves equal to the challenge the music poses not only in terms of virtuosity but, more importantly, artistry… exceptionally impressive" Gramophone
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