Chopin in Dubai: Or How to Go from Defying to Defining
On the flight from London, I was captivated by “Chopin’s Piano” by Paul Kildea which I had recently picked up at a Vancouver bookstore and saved for the long journey. Chopin’s music not only defied the conventions of the Classics, but defined Romantic music for decades to come. He looked back and forward at the same time, standing on the shoulders of the greats who came before him (Bach in particular, whose Welltempered Clavier was the only score Chopin carried with him on a desolate trip to ...