About this Artist

• Biography
• Interview

Editorial Reviews

The Chopin that Jean-Yves Thibaudet loves is not all that different from the Chopin most of the rest of us love, judging from this program of familiar favorites. He samples most of the genres in which Chopin composed: dance-inspired mazurkas and polonaises, finger-breaking etudes and preludes, lyrical nocturnes, graceful waltzes, and dramatic scherzos and ballades. Showing the same panache he brought to his acclaimed recordings of Ravel and Debussy, Thibaudet creates distinctive atmospheres for all of Chopin's diverse forms, finding an appropriate tone for each. The smaller works are light, with an almost flashy quality that reminds us these were salon favorites of the composer's day. He searches for the poetry beneath the surface while never neglecting the beauty of the surface itself. But don't think that Thibaudet is just a purveyor of polished charm. He reserves his epic voice for larger, stormier works like the Third Scherzo and First Ballade. Here the air of the salon is dispelled in favor of an urgently expressive approach that gets to the music's fiery heart. As a bonus, Thibaudet performs a few selections on a Broadwood piano that Chopin himself played in his 1848 concerts in England. The frail, muted voice of this instrument speaks poignantly in the melancholy "Raindrop" Prelude and three other works, allowing us to travel back in time to experience these familiar pieces as the great composer himself may have heard them. Scott Paulin, Barnes & Noble

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