(00:10) Alkan's Concerto da camera Op. 10/1 in A minor was premiered in Paris on 29 April 1832 at the Societe des Concerts du Conservatoire: the concerto was an unqualified triumph for the composer and it is strange that this work has vanished from most pianists' repertoires. Described as 'un grand concerto' it is one of Alkan's most weighty and dignified works of this period using a full sized orchestra including four bassoons and bass trombone. The concerto also found favour in 1832 as a competition piece: part of the concerto was selected for the piano concours at the conservatoire according to the title page.

(14:33) The second Concerto da camera in C sharp minor was composed for Henry Field of Bath. Dedicated to the same individual, he performed it in Bath on 11 April 1834. Compared with the first concerto this concerto is shorter in length but not in musical weight or formal innovation. Contemporary reviews described it as a 'concertino... especially delightful for the novelty of its style and technique.' This concerto immediately gives a hint of the darker, more macabre, more compressed and massed style of the later more mature Alkan. This ternary-designed concerto had a special place in Alkan's early compositions and was one of his favourite works for public performance. It is a flexible work: a solo piano version was published in 1859 and it could also be played in a chamber version (string quartet plus double bass).

(22:09) The success of both the first and second Concerto da camera may have prompted Alkan to compose a third Concerto da camera, the first performance of which was announced for the concert in Paris on 3 March 1838. Even given the imprecision of Parisian music journals no concerto was mentioned. But a review in Le Pianiste reveals the identity of the work from the description of the piece 'a simple gracious muted song for strings is accompanied by a series of chords which, passing from octave to octave, sustains the melody and produces an effect as original as it is ravishing.' There is only one Alkan work which fits the description. This is the second of the Trois andante romantiques Op. 13 published in 1837 which was then republished in 1838 with the title Caprice ou Etude in C-sharp major. The simplicity and gentleness of this work is a remarkable demonstration of Alkan's rejection of the over-florid, over extended practices of his early period of composition.

(Charles Valentin Alkan: His Life and His Music)

Please take note that the audio AND sheet music ARE NOT mine. Change the quality to a minimum of 480p if the video is blurry.

Original audio:
No. 1: [ Ссылка ]
No. 2: [ Ссылка ]
No. 3: [ Ссылка ]
(Performance by: Dmitry Feofanov at the piano, accompanied by the Razumovsky Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Robert Stankovsky)
Original sheet music:
No. 1 and 2: [ Ссылка ]_(Alkan,_Charles-Valentin)
No. 3: [ Ссылка ]

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