It’s also well known that Chopin had many followers, but very few who could match his uncanny ability to express conflicting emotions simultaneously. French composer Cécile Chaminade was his equal a full century afterwards in many of her works, including her Nocturne and Valse d’Automne, which she wrote in her 70s. An extremely prolific artist and transcendent performer, Chaminade was the first female composer to be made a Chevalier de la Légion d’honneur – France’s highest honor – in 1913.
This program reveals this context in two of Chopin’s early works, Nocturne in Eb and Ballade No. 1; and in two late works, Waltz in C# minor and Sonata in B minor.
The instrument for the performance is a Steinway Centennial instrument, built for the 1876 World’s Fair in Philadelphia, beautifully restored and made available by Philadelphia’s own Cunningham Piano.