Fryderyk Chopin

Throughout the book, the author uses quotes from musical scores for illustration. Without those, it might seem a somewhat dry biography. With them, it becomes very enjoyable reading.

First, a confession. Almost each time I play the piano, Chopin is an inseparable part of the menu. His piano pieces are always fresh ; you can play most of his pieces an endless number of times, and still discover new things in them.This new biography of Chopiin's life and his times is a great pleasure to read. This is so because Alan Walker has invested in it 10 years of research and writing, and , like many of his previously published volumes on Liszt, this volume can already be called a classic.Heine, from whom I quoted partially the title for this review, called Chopin "the Raphael of the piano", adding that ...."whenever he plays I forget all other masters of the instrument , or mere skill, and sink into the sweet abyss of his music, into the melancholy rapture of his exquisite and profound creations".What distinguished Chopin from other acrobats of the piano was his lack of interest in technique as an end in itself. Hebelonged to no school , he subscribed to no dogma. Everything he knew about piano playing he had discovered for himself. It was he who broke new ground , creating a new series of piano pieces that have dominated the repertory ever since. Chopin, in short, created a new world for the piano.The author discusses in a vast panoramic style many sides of Chopin's life such as his happy childhood and youth in Poland, his recitals in Europe, his years in exile in Paris, his complicated relationship with George Sand and her children ,the year when Chopin spent in Majorca creating the famous 24 preludes, his short visit to London, the special way in which Chopin recommended to use and play his piano pieces, contradicting many advices given by his contemporaries, his break-up with Sand and the reasons for it, his many illnesses and his prolonged battle with tuberculosis as well as his death and its aftermath.In addition, there are numerous examples of musical pieces explained in detail by the author. Chopin could improvise on any piano. There are also many photos pertaining to his friends and places he lived in, an appendix, in which there appears a questionnaire of Liszt concerning the life of Chopin ( from November, 1849), and a general catalogue of Chopin's works.Living together with George Sand was not always easy for him, yet this was his most productive period of his short life- a life cut short at the age of 39. Chopin's funeral is described in a special chapter. It took place in the Madeleine Church in Paris, where -according to his wish- Mozart's Requiem was played. After carrying out an autopsy, one of his doctors removed Chopin's heart and -preserved in a jar containing alcohol- it was transferred to Warsaw by his sister. The story about his heart after having being brought to Poland merits in itself a separate chapter, since it had a tumultuous fate especially during and after World War Two.Unfortunately, George Sand burnt all the ten-year-old correpondence between her and Chopin. And, despite Chopin's wishes to burn his last compositions, one of his sisters had decided to publish them.This biography, which is packed with a lot of information and insightful analyses of Chopin's major works , and which supplies a great historical background of the events that happened before, during and after Chopin's death, is a must for every pianist, music lover and cultured man everywhere. In fact, it is deeply researched and highly readable and sometimes the reader might think he is reading a first-rate novel. I also name it the best biography of the year for 2018 !

Review of Walker’s "Fryderyk Chopin" by Paul F. RossAlan Walker, Professor Emeritus at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, completed his 700+ page biography of Chopin in 2017 and his copyright is dated 2018. I ordered my copy from Amazon and, after a long wait for its publication, my copy arrived on 18 October 2018. The Economist published its review in the issue of 10-16 November 2018 (p 81-82) saying “Scrupulous as it is, this monumental biography is deeply engaging and enjoyable.” Chopin, who was born in Poland in 1810 and died in France in 1849, was a self-taught pianist from age_____________________________________________________________________________________________Walker, Alan Fryderyk Chopin: A life and times 2018, Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, New York NY, xxxi + 729 pages_____________________________________________________________________________________________six with some help from his mother, a singer and perhaps an amateur pianist. Chopin began studying composition at the Warsaw Conservatory at age sixteen where his teacher, Jozef Elsner, became Chopin’s mentor and a lifelong influence.Chopin left Poland and Warsaw in 1830 at age twenty to avoid the political uproar as Poland sought to escape the domination of Russia. Chopin never returned to his homeland. Intending to go to Italy, he ended instead in Paris. In 1836 Chopin met George Sand who became his lover, then as Chopin’s health became marginal, his nurse. Their relationship soured in 1847 over issues Chopin had with Sand about Sand’s treatment of Sand’s daughter (by Liszt, before meeting Chopin), and Chopin saw Sand only once between their separation and Chopin’s death in 1849.Chopin lived at a time when Liszt and other prominent pianist-concertizers toured Europe, played to large audiences in concert halls, and were lionized for their technical brilliance and powerful sound that filled concert halls. Chopin played music of his own composition, played much more softly, and was admired by the piano cognizant for his touch and the variety of sound produced by Chopin. Chopin did not play huge public concerts because his interpretations did not produce sound loud enough to fill music halls. Walker presents a chapter describing how Chopin’s touch and his fingering is different from that taught by Czerny and the great pianists of Chopin’s day.Walker spends pages describing a period of Chopin’s life, then the next pages describing the music that Chopin composed during that period. Life, music – life, music. This is the pattern used by Swafford in his biography of Beethoven and by Wiley in his biography of Tchaikovsky. Walker’s biography is more successful in conveying the “life” experiences for Chopin than Swafford and Wiley have been in writing engaging stories about their composers lives.Copyright © 2018 by Paul F. Ross All rights reserved.Bellevue, Washington2 December 2018ReferencesSwafford, Jan Beethoven: Anguish and triumph 2014, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, New York NYWalker, Alan Fryderyk Chopin: A life and times 2018, Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, New York NYWiley, Roland John 2009, Tchaikovsky, Oxford University Press, Oxford UK

Did not expect a formerly discarded book from the Phoenix public library especially for the price. That said the book is old but not damaged. It’s completely readable. Should have been less expensive.

The book is well-written and provides useful insight into Chopin's life and work .It also throws light onto his character, which is elusive and which I had never really understood before reading this biography.

Excelente atendimento. Produto de qualidade. Chegou no prazo prometido.

An extremely interesting book! However, there's an error on page 10: in reality, there's (at least) one known letter from Chopin in German. It's a 1834 letter to Regina Hiller, which contains a very interesting phrase: (translation) "I am like the steam on a steamboat, I melt into the air and feel as if a part of myself was journeying to my homeland, and the other to Paris, to You." (the German original: "Ich bin heute so wie der Dampf in unserem Dampfschiffe — ich löse mich in der Luft auf, und ich fühle, wie ein Teil meines Ichs in mein Vaterland zu den Meinigen, und der andere zu Sie nach Paris hochachtungsvoll spaziert, Sie in Ihrem Kabinett trifft und macht schönen Kompliment.").

Questa biografia di Chopin è indubbiamente la più ampia – dopo i ponderosi lavori di Hoesik (1910-1911), Niecks (1903), Belotti (1974) e Zieliński (1993) – tra quelle pubblicate nel secolo scorso. La prima ragione è l’abbondanza delle fonti meglio studiate o scoperte dopo le rispettive date. Eppure, non viene riferito tutto quello che ad oggi si sa: ad es., non si parla dell’incontro del compositore col piccolo Anton Rubinstein, oggetto per la prima volta di un articolo (di uno studioso italiano) disponibile in rete. Stupiscono, poi, alcune gravi mancanze nella bibliografia: non si menziona la citata biografia del Belotti; non quella di Marie-Paule Rambeau (2005), che per prima utilizzò importanti diari; non si cita il lavoro di Gabriel Ladaique sulle origini lorene di Chopin (1999), senza il quale Mysłakowski e Sikorski non avrebbero potuto scrivere il loro (2010); di Eigeldinger si ricorda solo il volume sugli allievi, e non secondo l’ultima edizione (2006), bensì secondo la traduzione inglese (1986) della seconda ed. francese (1979)! E la lista sarebbe lunga… Nella triste vicenda che vide protagonisti, oltre al compositore, Maria Wodzińska e George Sand, pur avendo a disposizione tutti gli elementi per farlo, Walker non coglie la verità.Stento a credere che si tratti di ignoranza, ma piuttosto, come suggerirebbe il sembiante fotografato sul retro della sovraccoperta, di alterigia e disdegno. È questa la maggior pecca dell’ultima fatica di Alan Walker: sotto una prosa molto ben scritta, una suddivisione dei capitoli inappuntabile, serpeggia una disposizione sdegnosa, allineata col potere economico globale, molto ben dissimulata, che peraltro fa capolino nella bibliografia.Concludendo, a dispetto di quanto detto, è questo un libro che ogni chopinologo o appassionato di Chopin non può non avere nella sua biblioteca. Tutto il resto può contare qualcosa solo per l’autore…

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