Chopin Intime

Justin Taylor has a passion for early keyboards and is always keen to match the works he tackles with the most appropriate historical instruments. Justin has always been fascinated by the music of Frédéric Chopin, whose intimate musical world is presented on Chopin InTime.

We know that Chopin composed some of his preludes during his stay with George Sand in Mallorca, where he used a very special instrument. This was a Pleyel pianino — a small upright piano of six and a half octaves that was only made between 1835 and 1842 — with a beautiful natural resonance and a velvety timbre. Taylor has recorded the preludes composed on this Pleyel pianino along with a selection of etudes, nocturnes and mazurkas, all of which suit the sound of the instrument perfectly. A moving transcription of Bellini’s Casta diva, an aria that Chopin much admired, is also included here.

Justin Taylor, Pianino Pleyel (1839)