This new CD from The Fryderyk Chopin Institute (NIFC) presents the works of Chopin's pupils and friends performed by pianist Cyprien Katsaris. During the composers' lifetimes, these works were published by prominent firms and gained considerable popularity. Yet they failed to stand the test of time. With the end of the nineteenth century, most of them disappeared from concert life and the publishing market. During the nineteenth century the piano became an essential part of social life, and brought with it an increase in the number of composers of salon music. In stylistic terms, these compositions fall somewhere between popular and artistic or professional. Most of them are characterised by simplicity, delicacy and subtle feelings.

The output of Filtsch, Fontana, Gutmann, Mikuli, Tellefsen and Baroness Rothschild represents precious evidence of the epoch. As pianists, they were undoubtedly among the outstanding virtuosi of the nineteenth century and helped to popularise the music of their master, preserving his legacy in the most perfect form for future generations.

A French pianist and composer of Cypriot origins, Cyprien Katsaris was born in Marseilles in 1951. He is a graduate of the Paris Conservatoire, where he studied piano with Aline van Barentzen and Monique de la Bruchollerie. He won the UNESCO International Rostrum of Young Interpreters in Bratislava (1977) and the Cziffra International Competition in Versailles (1974) and is a laureate of the Queen Elisabeth Competition (1972). Katsaris performs with the Berlin Philharmonic, Moscow Philharmonic, Leipzig Gewandhaus, Cleveland and Amsterdam Concertgebouw and the Philharmonia Orchestra. He has worked with conductors such as Leonard Bernstein, Neville Marriner, Simon Rattle and Mstislav Rostropovich. Katsaris has recorded for Teldec, Sony Classical, EMI, Warner Classics, Deutsche Grammophon, BMG/RCA, Decca and Pavane. He has also founded his own label, PIANO 21.