With supreme artistry and finesse, Turkish pianist Idil Biret captures the essence of Polish composer and virtuoso pianist Fryderyk Chopin's passion and craft. Funeral march, lively Polish folk dance, and exquisite melody are one and all captured with a happy combination of virtuosic technique and emotional profundity on this compilation of recordings from the early 1990s.

The first track is the breathtaking Fantasy-Impromptu in C sharp minor, Op. 66 , played at an extraordinarily fast pace, yet as lightly as raindrops on glass. This is followed by three of Chopin's many Mazurkas (a type of Polish folk dance), with even the ironically disjunct and uneven Mazurka No. 41 in C sharp minor , Op. 63, No. 3 played with haunting delicacy by Biret. The epic and poignant Ballade No. 1 in G minor, Op. 23 follows these bouncy dance pieces, taking the listener on a broad emotional journey.

Ever popular in television and film soundtracks, the "Raindrop" Prelude No. 15 in D flat major, Op. 28, No.15 , with its striking juxtaposition of the blithe and the stormy, comes right at the middle of the recording, leading into some of Chopin's "themed" works. These include the brooding Piano Sonata No. 2 in B flat minor, Op. 35, "Funer , called "Funeral March" (often considered the funeral march in popular consciousness), and the raucous Polonaise No. 3 in A major, Op. 40, No. 1, "Milita , called the "Military" polonaise.

The beauty of Chopin's music, the majority of which is written for solo piano, comes from its ability to express genuine, familiar emotions. So often, Chopin's famed melodies seem to communicate these familiar emotions directly, as in a spoken language, and Biret skillfully mediates between the challenges of the notated music and the piano itself to make Chopin's communication compellingly real and alive in these recordings.

Additional Tracks:
Berceuse in D flat major, Op. 57
Scherzo No. 2 in B flat minor, Op. 31