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Chopin At 200 Hear Chopin's music in performance and perspective.
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Chopin At 200

Hear Chopin's music in performance and perspective.
Rafal Blechacz's Single-Minded Chopin

He might be young, but Polish pianist Rafal Blechacz has a deep connection to the music of Frederic Chopin. Felix Broede/Deutsche Grammophon hide caption

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Felix Broede/Deutsche Grammophon

Rafal Blechacz's Single-Minded Chopin

American Public Media

The young Polish pianist Rafal Blechacz has cultivated a deep connection to Chopin's music. Five years ago, at age 20, he swept all the awards at the International Chopin competition. Host Fred Child finds out how he did it, and asks him to play a Chopin Mazurka or two.

Hear Rafal Blechacz Play Chopin At NPR

A Chopin Ballade To Blow You Away

Pianist Adam Neiman performs Chopin's Ballade No. 4 in NPR Studio 4A. Courtesy of Adam Neiman hide caption

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Courtesy of Adam Neiman

A Chopin Ballade To Blow You Away

American Public Media

Adam Neiman lets his fingers do the talking, tearing into the dramatic Ballade No. 4 by Chopin. The young American pianist says the music tells a story that's both ferocious and tender. Neiman also plays a piece of his own in NPR's studio.

Hear Adam Neiman Play Chopin In The NPR Studio

Chopin's Iconic Funeral March

A drawing of Polish composer and pianist Frederic Chopin on his deathbed. Kean Collection/Hulton Archive/Getty Images hide caption

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Kean Collection/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

Chopin's Iconic Funeral March

No one made funeral music quite like Frederic Chopin, the Polish composer born 200 years ago Monday. Chances are, you've heard snippets of his musical evocation of doom and gloom in cartoons, movies and — of course — funerals.

Chopin's Iconic Funeral March

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Review

Chopin With A Polish Touch

Nearly every classical pianist loves Chopin. But pianists from Poland have a special bond with the music of their countryman. NPR Music's Tom Huizenga and Weekend All Things Considered host Guy Raz spin great Chopin recordings by Polish pianists from 1917 up to today.

Chopin With A Polish Touch

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A World Of Expression In A Tiny Chopin Mazurka

Mazurka Journal des Demoiselles/Wikimedia Commons hide caption

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Journal des Demoiselles/Wikimedia Commons

A World Of Expression In A Tiny Chopin Mazurka

American Public Media

Chopin had the courage to believe that the expression contained in a three-minute Mazurka for solo piano could be as powerful as the expression in an entire four-hour Wagner opera. Hear pianist and composer Rob Kapilow, and radio host Fred Child, explain what makes Chopin great.

Chopin: Mazurka in A minor Op. 17, No. 4.

Chopin We Love

An 1838 painting of Frederic Chopin by Eugene Delacroix. The Gallery Collection/Corbis hide caption

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The Gallery Collection/Corbis

Chopin We Love

What's not to love about Chopin? Perhaps even more than the works of Bach and Mozart, Chopin's music is almost universally admired — by pianists, by critics, and by people who know nothing about classical music. Hear some of NPR contributors' favorite performances of music by Chopin on the 200th anniversary of the composer's birth.

The Life And Music Of Frederic Chopin
Franz Xaver Winterhalter

The Life And Music Of Frederic Chopin

A composer of matchless genius, no one before or since Chopin has contributed as many significant works to the piano's repertoire, or come closer to capturing its soul.

Martha Argerich: Grande Polonaise Brillante in E-flat, Op. 22

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Garrick Ohlsson: The Chopin Guy

Garrick Ohlsson won the International Chopin Competition in 1970, and he's been playing the composer's music ever since. Philip Jones Griffiths hide caption

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Philip Jones Griffiths

Garrick Ohlsson: The Chopin Guy

WNYC

In 1970, in Cold War-era Warsaw, an unknown American pianist named Garrick Ohlsson stunned the classical world by winning the International Chopin Competition. The composer's music has played a huge role in Ohlsson's career ever since. Hear him play Chopin in the WNYC studio.

Hear Garrick Ohlsson Play Chopin at WNYC

Chopin by an Award-Winning Pianist

Rafal Blechacz was the first Polish pianist to win the Chopin Prize since Krystian Zimerman in 1975. Courtesy of artist. hide caption

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Courtesy of artist.

Chopin by an Award-Winning Pianist

Pianist Rafal Blechacz won the 2005 International Chopin Competition in Warsaw, so he's qualified to play Chopin. He was back in Warsaw this past summer to play the Barcarolle, Op. 60, and the Etude Op. 10, No. 8.

Chopin by an Award-Winning Pianist

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Arthur Rubinstein: The Supreme Chopin Poet

Artur Rubinstein's Chopin recordings had a fresh sound, as if he were discovering the music for the first time. Sony BMG Music Ent. Photo Archives hide caption

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Sony BMG Music Ent. Photo Archives

The NPR Classical 50

Arthur Rubinstein: The Supreme Chopin Poet

When it comes to playing Chopin, pianist Arthur Rubinstein had poetry in his soul. His expressive recordings brim with warmth, lyricism and spontaneity, as if he were approaching Chopin's long-spun melodies and turbulent emotions for the very first time.

Ted Libbey And Fred Child Recommend Chopin's 'Ballades'

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Yundi Li's Passion for Chopin

Yundi Li is the youngest pianist ever to win the prestigious International Chopin Competition in Warsaw. Gunter Glucklich/DG hide caption

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Gunter Glucklich/DG

Music Interviews

Yundi Li's Passion for Chopin

At 18, Yundi Li became the youngest person ever to win the prestigious International Chopin Competition. The pianist, now 22, discusses his enthusiasm for the 19th-century Polish composer.

Yundi Li's Passion for Chopin

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Remembering Pianist Earl Wild

American pianist Earl Wild performs at his 90th-birthday recital at Carnegie Hall. courtesy of the artist hide caption

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courtesy of the artist

Remembering Pianist Earl Wild

Celebrated for his robust technique and rich tone, American pianist and composer Earl Wild died Saturday at age 94, after an eight-decade career. He performed for six American presidents and was the first pianist to give a solo recital on American television.

Hear Earl Wild, At Age 90, Discuss His Career With Fred Child

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Rossini, Riley And Remixes: New Classical CDs

From sensuous-sounding Chopin to a radical remix of Terry Riley's IN C, NPR Music's Tom Huizenga and All Things Considered host Guy Raz spin a wide assortment of new classical CDs.

Rossini, Riley And Remixes: New Classical CDs

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