Ballade N. 4, Op. 52
Nocturnes Op. 9, 1&2
Op. 27, 1&2
Scherzo No. 2, Op. 31
Fantasie-Impromptu Op. 66
Nocturne Op. 48, 1
Fantasie Polonaise Op. 61
SURPRISE (hidden track)

Excerpt from the liner notes:

More than any other genre in Chopin’s music, the nocturnes show him in his role as a charmer of the Paris salons. Chopin, nevertheless, was not the only composer who beguiled the world by dipping his feather in nocturne moonlight: John Field was the forerunner, regarded as the original inventor of ‘night pieces’, When he noticed that Chopin was stealing the show, however, Field lost his usual good temper and labelled his Polish rival as a ”sickroom talent”. Such strong language was evidently not just chosen as an allusion to Chopin’s reputed ill-health, but in order to question his mental sanity. Field’s words reveal, however, that he felt truly threatened. One of the greatest pianists of his time, a paragon of perfection and elegance, Field now had to see a younger start-up outperform him at his own game. It seemed as if the best artists of the age were constantly crossing paths in the streets of Paris. Ever since his arrival, 23-year-old Chopin had only offered a couple of performances in the French capital, yet he was already regarded as the most outstanding innovator in the art of the piano. Franz Liszt and Sigismund Thalberg were the only other musicians who could hold a candle to him. But Chopin was different: for one, he refused to take part in piano duels. Indeed, he seemed almost afraid to perform in front of a large audience, keen on avoiding any sort of spectacle. Such timidity did not harm his popularity in the slightest. Alfred Cortot later referred to Chopin as ”that rare miracle: someone who manages to become famous behind closed doors….

The Nocturne op. 48/1 is one of Sophie Pacini’s favourite works: she still remembers it from a scene in the Academy-Awardwinning film Nuovo Cinema Paradiso. Tornatore’s cinematic masterpiece features a fragmented narrative structure that intermingles the past with the present – for instance by incorporating sequences from other films. ”After a first section in minor that sounds like dripping water – the voice of suffering – the middle section brightens up in major, while sounding elegiac and pianissimo. In the film it seems to me like a door that opens upon childhood memories. The young man returns after many years to his native village, where he visits the room from his childhood that takes him back to earlier days.” Perhaps this sort of perspective is not purely musical; however, by approaching piano works in this fashion, an interpreter such as Sophie Pacini can fathom their content even more profoundly. That special ability has certainly contributed toward her success as a performer. Pacini puts it in a nutshell: ”I want to be a musical interpreter, not a keyboard daredevil”.