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Charles-Valentin Alkan is fairly unknown. A contemporary of Richard Wagner, Franz Liszt and Frédéric Chopin in the 19th century but mostly living in Paris and enjoying the life in the salons. From Nosrati's notes Alkan's music is at times so unconventional and sarcastic that audiences may have experienced more irritation than enthusiasm. His style feeds on abrupt contrast; it features a great deal of counterpoint and is thus more akin to the so-called InchGerman SchoolInch than to French salon music. Anyone who dares to explore Alkan's music more closely will be richly rewarded these are works capable of displaying the utter extremes of the human alongside one another seriousness and humor, intellect and emotion, tradition and modernity.
