Though frail of body, Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849), the greatest musician of the Romantic period, possessed an unrivaled creative strength. The composer and piano virtuoso was a child prodigy who did not survive to see his fortieth birthday. Rarely has a life so short produced such a legacy. He invented musical forms such as the ballade and revolutionized many others including the piano sonata, waltz, étude and prelude. He combined his emotionality and expressiveness with technique as demanding as it was dazzling. Schumann said of Chopin’s music that there is a “cannon concealed amid blossoms.”
(Extract from Paperblanks Blog)

As a virtuoso pianist, Chopin also dedicated much of his time to musical composition, nearly all for piano. These included 2 Piano Concerti; 4 Ballades; 24 Preludes; Etudes; Polonaises; Waltzes; Mazurkas; Nocturnes and Impromptus. The Greek concert pianist, Stavros Dritsas, who was to perform at our Liszt Nocturne Supper Club in February this year, but due to illness was substituted by the virtuosic and memorable playing of Edward Leung, will be performing a range of Chopin’s piano works at our September 10th Nocturne Supper Club.

Stavros Dritsas was born in Loutraki, Greece in 1996. He has recorded works of Bach, Beethoven, Chopin and Schubert for BBC Radio 3 and the Greek National Radio, appeared in the Latvian National Radio, and has also performed/broadcast in honour of the Greek Presidency of the Council of Europe. Stavros studied the piano with Agathe Leimoni at the Schola Cantorum de Paris and continued his studies with Lucy Parham at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, and with Ilja Scheps at the Euro Arts Academy. A keen educator himself, he teaches at the London Piano Centre and at the Wellington College.