One of the great forgotten figures in the history of music, a man admired by Liszt, nicknamed “the Berlioz of the piano”, is undoubtedly Charles-Valentin Alkan, the best-kept secret of French Romanticism, the composer of solitary and impassioned souls. An exceptionally gifted and vulnerable virtuoso piano, he was a demanding and inventive composer, a tormented artist who produced a kaleidoscopic and passionate body of work. Alkan is fascinating because of the mystery that still shrouds his life and his work; after a spectacular early career, he withdrew from society, taking refuge in his inner world. French pianist Pascal Amoyel showcases all the composer’s facets, in a multifaceted way.