Music Feature

Piers Lane explores the mysterious life and music of French pianist and composer Charles Valentin Alkan. The Italian composer Busoni considered him to be one of the five greatest writers for the piano since Beethoven. He was a friend and neighbour of Chopin and possessed what Liszt called the 'greatest technique' he had ever heard. Piers asks why, by the end of his life, this Romantic virtuoso was all but forgotten.