Andrea Lucchesini performs Chopin

At the Fuggerschloss in Kirchheim in Schwaben, Germany, Italian pianist Andrea Lucchesini offers an intimate recital entirely dedicated to the musical fantasies of Frédéric Chopin. In this program, the fiery Scherzo No. 2 is followed by the full suite of 24 Preludes, op. 28, one of the most varied and inventive sets in the Polish composer's repertoire — and in all of piano literature. Of the Scherzo, Schumann wrote that "one could compare it to a poem by Byron, so full of tenderness, audacity, love and contempt"; as for the Preludes, they are "esquisses, beginnings of studies, or, if one prefers, ruins, like eagle feathers separated from all colors and wildly arranged." However, he adds, "each piece is like a calling card with an elegant and impeccable inscription: by Frédéric Chopin" … The recital ends with the whirlwind reverie of the Fantaisie-Impromptu, which, as its name suggests, has the atmosphere of a waking dream.