Charles-Valentin Alkan is fairly unknown. A contemporary of Richard Wagner, Franz Liszt and Fr�d�ric 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 "German School" 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 condition: alongside one another: seriousness and humor, intellect and emotion, tradition and modernity.