Chopin Etudes Extravaganza

Chopin Rondo in E flat major, Op. 16
Chopin 12 Etudes, Op. 10
Chopin 12 Etudes, Op. 25
Chopin Polonaise in A flat major, Op. 53

Jayson Gillham piano

Chopin’s elegance and poetry will be on full display in a menu that pivots on two sets of the composer’s Études. Were these works – lyrical and attention grabbing, impassioned and miraculous – designed to test finger technique or enchant listeners? They do both, as do the big beasts that bookend Gillham’s recital: the pure virtuosity of the composer’s breathless E flat Rondo and the grand heroism and pianistic panache of his A flat Polonaise.