This is Vincenzo Maltempo’s 5-th Alkan CD, establishing himself not only as the Champion of Alkan’s music, but as a formidable musician, a pianist of extraordinary power, sensitivity and intellect. This Alkan recital presents some of Alkan’s quirky and eccentric works, not necessarily of epic proportions (like his 12 Etudes in the minor key Op. 39), but often on a small scale, concentrating manically on a single idea, creating a hallucinatory and mesmerising effect (or simply hilarious…). The title song, the Song of the Mad Woman on the Seashore, creates in just a few minutes and just a few notes a profound feeling of alienation. Other pieces on this fascinating disc are the Trois Petits Fantaisies Op 41, Le Tambour bat aux Champs, Laus Deo, Capriccio alla Soldatesca, Minuetto alla Tedesca. Maltempo’s previous Alkan recordings on Piano Classics received rave reviews in the international press (“Exhilarating, a revelation” Guardian), “9/9”, (Jed Distler Classicstoday.com), “his playing flashes with summer lightning” (Gramophone), 5 star reviews in Diapason and Piano News. Maltempo plays on a magnificent Erard Grand Piano from 1899, lending a special feeling of authenticity to his playing.
