Frédéric François Chopin was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist of the Romantic period, who wrote primarily for solo piano. He has maintained worldwide renown as a leading musician of his era, one whose "poetic genius was based on a professional technique that was without equal in his generation".
Rosemary Isabel Brown was an English composer, pianist and spirit medium who claimed that dead composers dictated new musical works to her. She created a small media sensation in the 1970s by presenting works purportedly dictated to her by Claude Debussy, Edvard Grieg, Franz Liszt, Franz Schubert, Frédéric Chopin, Igor Stravinsky, Johann Sebastian Bach, Johannes Brahms, Ludwig van Beethoven, Robert Schumann and Sergei Rachmaninoff.
Arthur Rubinstein KBE OMRI was a Polish-American pianist. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest pianists of all time. He received international acclaim for his performances of the music written by a variety of composers and many regard him as one of the greatest Chopin interpreters of his time. He played in public for eight decades. His repertoire also included the works of Beethoven, Mozart, Schubert, Liszt, Tchaikovsky, Saint-Saëns, Schumann and more.
Walter Wilhelm Gieseking was a French-born German pianist and composer. Gieseking was renowned for his subtle touch, pedaling, and dynamic control—particularly in the music of Debussy and Ravel; he made integral recordings of all their published works which were extant during his life. He also recorded most of Mozart's solo piano works.
Alfred Denis Cortot was a French pianist, conductor, and teacher who was one of the most renowned classical musicians of the 20th century. A pianist of massive repertory, he was especially valued for his poetic insight into Romantic piano works, particularly those of Chopin, Franck, Saint-Saëns and Schumann. For Éditions Durand, he edited editions of almost all piano music by Chopin, Liszt and Schumann.
Josef Lhévinne was a Russian pianist and piano teacher. Lhévinne wrote a short book in 1924 that is considered a classic: Basic Principles in Pianoforte Playing. Asked how to say his name, he told The Literary Digest it was lay-VEEN.
Leopold Mordkhelovich Godowsky Sr. was a Lithuanian-born American virtuoso pianist, composer and teacher. He was one of the most highly regarded performers of his time, known for his theories concerning the application of relaxed weight and economy of motion within pianistic technique – principles later propagated by his pupils, such as Heinrich Neuhaus.
Theophil Franz Xaver Scharwenka was a German pianist, composer and teacher of Polish descent. He was the brother of Ludwig Philipp Scharwenka (1847–1917), who was also a composer and teacher of music.
Yundi Li, also known mononymously as Yundi, is a Chinese classical concert pianist. Yundi is especially known for his interpretation of Chopin, Liszt and Prokofiev. He is also referred as a Master in Chopin and considered one of the greatest contemporary interpreters of Chopin.
Byron Janis was an American classical pianist. He made numerous recordings for RCA Victor and Mercury Records, and occupies two volumes of the Philips series Great Pianists of the 20th Century. His discography covered repertoire from Bach to David W. Guion and included major piano concertos from Mozart to Rachmaninoff and Liszt to Prokofiev.
Shura Cherkassky was a Russian-American concert pianist known for his performances of the romantic repertoire. His playing was characterized by a virtuoso technique and singing piano tone. For much of his later life, Cherkassky resided in London.
Vladimir Vladimirovich Sofronitsky was a Soviet-Russian classical pianist, best known as an interpreter of Alexander Scriabin and Frédéric Chopin. His daughter is the Canadian pianist Viviana Sofronitsky.
The Piano Concerto No. 1 in E minor, Op. 11, is a piano concerto written by Frédéric Chopin in 1830, when he was twenty years old. It was first performed on 12 October of that year, at the Teatr Narodowy in Warsaw, Poland, with the composer as soloist, during one of his "farewell" concerts before leaving Poland.
Adam Makowicz is a Polish pianist and composer living in Toronto. He performs jazz and classical piano pieces, as well as his own compositions.
Harry Lancelot Dossor was a British-born classical music concert pianist and teacher who emigrated to Australia in May 1953.
Frederic Archibald Lamond was a Scottish classical pianist and composer, and the second-last surviving pupil of Franz Liszt.
Alexander Brailowsky was a Russian and French pianist who specialised in the works of Frédéric Chopin. He was a leading concert pianist in the years between the two World Wars.
Isidor Edmond Philipp was a French pianist, composer, and pedagogue of Jewish Hungarian descent. He was born in Budapest and died in Paris.
James Edward Rhodes is a British-Spanish concert pianist and writer, and an activist for the protection of minors against sexual abuse in Spain.
Maria Szraiber is a Polish pianist and music educator. Born in the region of Silesia Szraiber graduated with the highest honours from the Karol Szymanowski Academy of Music and was taught by Bolesław Woytowicz and Wanda Chmielowska. She continued her studies at the Moscow Conservatory where she was taught by Tatiana Nikolayeva and Rudolf Kehrer. Szraiber has regularly performed worldwide as a soloist and chamber musician.
