Charles-Valentin Alkan s neglected Sonate de concert is the most ambitious work for cello & piano of the Romantic period. Alkan wrote this monumental, virtuosic piece for the great cellist Auguste-Joseph Franchomme. It was for the same musician that Chopin, shortly before his death, composed his Sonata for cello and piano, a crepuscular, tormented work. Cellist Tatjana Vassiljeva and pianist Jean- Frédéric Neuburger provide their own unique perspective on these seminal works.