I wouldn’t have become a pianist if it hadn’t been for Chopin and, in particular, his Nocturnes. This is why, for the first time, I am writing these notes because I feel nothing but utmost respect for Chopin, and I am extremely devoted to his Nocturnes. Even though I was only six, I can still vividly remember hearing the notes coming from the record player. This memory is engraved in my mind, my heart and my ears.
Not only did the French pianist’s execution, which was as clean and light as a feather, introduced me to the grandeur of classical music, but it also pushed me to pursue the piano. Little I knew that the Nocturnes would have continued to accompany me. I found them again, in their full version, in the incomparable execution of Rubinstein by RCA. His name echoes in my ears so loudly that I considered him to be all together with the Nocturnes. The vinyl cover portrayed him in his golden age, a stunning pine forest in the background, brightened by the moonlight.