Eugen d'Albert (1864-1932)
Piano Concerto No.1 in B minor, Op. 2
Piano Concerto No.2 in E major, Op. 12
Overture: Esther, Op. 8

Born in Glasgow in 1864, of remoter Italian ancestry, the German composer and pianist Eugen d'Albert was a significant figure among the virtuoso pianists of the generation after Liszt. Today, however, his name and compositions are largely forgotten. His father Charles d'Albert had studied the piano under Kalkbrenner and became ballet - master at Covent Garden, compiling an influential treatise, Ballroom Etiquette. Their ancestors included Domenico Alberti, originator of the Alberti bass, a figuration popular in classical keyboard writing, and the family had distinguished military association; François Benoit d'Albert, the composer's grandfather, a French cavalry officer, had died at Waterloo.

Seeking his fortune in England, Charles d'Albert settled in Newcastle upon Tyne, working as a dancing-mast