Charles-Valentin Alkan is one of the most intriguing and enigmatic composers in the history of music. Born in Paris in 1813, he was admitted to the Paris Conservatoire age six, won numerous prizes and quickly established himself as one of France’s leading pianists. A colleague of Liszt and one-time next-door neighbour to his friend, Chopin, he was a darling of the salons until a series of professional setbacks led to a breakdown of sorts. The death of Chopin in 1849 was something of a last straw and in 1853, Alkan withdrew for some 20 years, eking out life as a total recluse.

It was during this period that much of his finest music was composed, a body of work that if recorded might stretch to 18-or-so discs. The piano works are notoriously virtuosic and often eccentrically conceived, attracting the attention of daredevil performers, most notably Marc-André Hamelin. But where most have restricted themselves to a handful of discs that only scratch the surface of Alkan’s oeuvre, Mark Viner is going for the Full Monty, as it were. 

The British pianist’s most recent release – volume seven –...