This site was created to showcase the amazing works of Frederic Chopin as played by one of the 20th century's great unknown pianists, John Rinehart. Note : the Rondo in C Major here is a piece for two pianos played by the dynamic team of Jennifer and John Rinehart.
" H ats off, gentlemen, a genius!" These were the words of Robert Schumann after attending the Vienna debut of pianist and composer Frederic Chopin in 1829. Such praise was quite commonplace for the highly lauded yet typically short-lived champion of the Romantic movement. As with so many musical geniuses before his time in the vein of Mozart, Chopin was not only filling the shoes of the model child prodigy pianist by age 7 but was also composing. He was born in 1810 in Zelazowa Wola, Poland near Warsaw to a mix of Polish and French parents. Although he would eventually spend much of his adult life in Paris, Chopin's heart was rooted in Poland and manisfested itself as such through Polish melodic structure and rhythms in his music. He studied at the Warsaw Conservatory of music during his teen years and later traveled abroad as so many before him to gain fame. Arriving in Paris in the early 1830s he mixed well into the salon society, befriending many fellow composers (amongst them Franz Liszt) as well as artists and writers. These social circles eventually introduced Aurore Dudevant (pen named George Sand) to Chopin, sparking a long lasting relationship between the two. He would spend his summers during this time in Paris and winters at Sand's country home in France, all the while composing a catalogue mostly limited to the piano (with the few exceptions being for cello and flute in addition to two piano concertos written in Warsaw). Sadly Chopin's health was ever deteriorating and as a result he seldom performed in public during his later years. By the end of his relationship with Sand in 1847 he was quite ill and two years later died from tuberculosis at age 39. Chopin's legacy and lasting fame is unique compared to the geniuses of classical music preceding and following him in that he composed so exclusively for the piano. His catalogue of virtuoso masterpieces that continue to move listeners and pianists alike include famous famous works such as his Piano Concertos, four Scherzos and Ballades, 27 Etudes, 19 Nocturnes and ten Polonaises.
J OHN RINEHART has a MAIN page and SECOND page on the friends list below for anyone interested in knowing more about his life and hearing his compositions as well as other performances. Also visit his BACH MySpace , HAYDN MySpace , MOZART MySpace , BEETHOVEN MySpace and BRAHMS MySpace pages showcasing 4 performances each and a DEBUSSY MySpace account featuring one performance (En Blanc et Noir).
This site was written/constructed, maintained and monitored by John Rinehart Jr. All recordings displayed here are the sole property of John Rinehart, copyright 2006.