Chopin: A Prayer for Poland

As the performers note, everyone who loves Chopin understands that his Polish roots fired his artistic inspiration. In this recording of three of Chopin's works involving cello and piano, the cellists he met, the music he heard, the pianos he played, and above all, that mythic love for his homeland are acknowledged. All of these works benefit from the special qualities of the Pleyel piano used for this recording, as well as the gut strings and 19th-century techniques of cello playing used by cellist Brent Wissick. Wissick, noted for his work on period instruments has given concerts on baroque cello and viola da gamba around the world. He is on the faculty of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His colleague, pianist Andrew Willis, has spent several decades exploring the historical development of keyboard instruments and their performance practice. Willis serves on the faculty of the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.