Acclaimed Chopin Project pianist Svetlana Smolina will play Chopin’s Twenty-four Preludes, Op. 28 as part of her performance tomorrow at 4:30PM (Friday, March 5th) at the Winter …
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Posted in Chistinia Thayer, Waltzes on Jun 10th, 2008
This delicate, haunting Waltz in another work that adds to the mystery and mastery of Chopin. This Waltz has long been a favorite of amateur pianists, as it’s one of the least difficult pieces of Chopin’s to play. Well, the …
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Chopin News, Reviews, and Previews:
A Country in the Moon, by Michael Moran
Independent – London,England,UK
Review declares Michael Moran’s new book about Poland to be an “absorbing, exasperating and ultimately rewarding travelogue.”
Moran emerges from these pages as
…
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Posted in Chopin, Jei-Yern Ryu, piano, Waltzes on May 10th, 2008
Chopinmusic.net calls this Grand Valse “one of Chopin’s most popular and glittering works.” We’re hard pressed to disagree.
Hear Chopin Project pianist Jei-Yern Ryu perform Chopin’s effervescent Waltz in E-flat, Op. 18.
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Posted in A Country in the Moon, books, Chopin Currency, Etudes, Garrick Ohlsson, Gilmore Festival, Michael Moran, Piano Sonata No. 3, Poland, Polish History, Preludes, Rafał Blechacz, Stephen Hough, Videos, Waltzes on May 9th, 2008
Chopin News, Reviews, and Previews:
Concert review: Young Polish pianist Rafal Blechacz dazzles …
San Jose Mercury News – CA, USA
A Bay Area reviewer isn’t quite ready to hand the Chopin crown to the hot young Polish pianist….
His
…
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Chopin News, Reviews, & Previews:
A scintillating fiesta of melodies
The News – International – Pakistan
It’s not often we get Chopin reviews from Karachi!
The evening’s programme opened the Polish-French composer Frederick Francois Chopin’s Waltz in F Major.
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Posted in Ballades, Chopin Currency, Enrique Granados, George Sand, Jorge Luis Prats, Konstancja Gladowska, Love Life, Marie Wodzinski, Neal Sedaka, Suite101, Waltzes on Apr 21st, 2008

Chopin News, Reviews, and Previews:
The master songwriter turns maestro
Sydney Morning Herald – Sydney,New South Wales,Australia
Legendary (and remarkably durable) hitman Neil Sedaka is poised to “return to his classical roots” Down Under…
Sedaka was an acclaimed junior pianist
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Posted in Chih-Long Hu, Waltzes on Mar 19th, 2008
Is this indeed Chopin’s “farewell” to his Polish fiancee Marie Wodzińska? The autographed manuscript has the inscription “Pour Mlle Marie.” We’ll let the “Ain’t Nothing Like the Real Thing” blog pick up the story…with a tip of the …
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Posted in Chopin Currency, circus, Dance, Dmitri Tymoczko, Les 7 Doigts de la Main, mathematics, Oh Ah-Mi, Piano Concertos, Preludes, Waltzes on Mar 11th, 2008

Chopin News, Reviews, and Previews:
Cellist Oh Ah-mi’s Courageous Crossover
Korea Times – South Korea
The world’s first self-described “crossover cellist,” breaks conventions by adding dance moves to the still-standing cello performance. “I am inspired by Vanessa Mae’s passionate playing …
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Chopin News, Reviews, and Previews:
Music and ‘the Man’
In-depth profile of pianist Byron Janis, who describes his affinity for Chopin:
But it was a Polish composer who may have had the greatest influence: Chopin was always a favorite, and …
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Posted in Arthur Greene, Waltzes on Mar 6th, 2008
Chopin’s third waltz has been called a “piece full of melancholy, gloom and grief, expressed in mournful simplicity.”
Though, according to the Vancouver Chopin Society,
The composer Stephen Heller related that Chopin called this slow (Lento) waltz his favorite. When
…
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Chopin Commentary, News, Reviews, & Previews
Answers to Reader Questions
Celebrated neurologist and author Oliver Sacks responds to New York Times’ readers queries about “amusic” migraine auras. Sacks recounts a passage from his best-selling book “Musicophilia…”
New York …
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Chopin News, Reviews, and Previews
Stark-Iochmans: No flash, but a workmanlike effort
Providence Journal – Providence,RI,USA
Stark-Iochmans turned to Chopin to close out the afternoon, the composer’s Fourth Ballade in F Minor. Again this contained some beautiful playing, …
See …
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Posted in classical, piano, Waltzes on Jan 16th, 2008
Why are Chopin’s Waltzes so perennially appealing to pianists? The folks at the boutique label Brana Records offer a clue: nicely: “They incorporate a range of moods from melancholy to effervescent but retain an air of sophistication suited to …
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