Chopin's E minor and F minor Piano Concertos played a vital role in his career as a composer-pianist. Praised for their originality and genius when he performed them, the concertos later attracted censure for ostensible weaknesses in form, development and orchestration. They also suffered at the hands of editors and performers, all the while remaining enormously popular. This handbook re-evaluates the concertos against the traditions that shaped them so that their many outstanding qualities can be fully appreciated. It describes their genesis, Chopin's own performances and his use of them as a teacher. A survey of their critical, editorial and performance histories follows, in preparation for an analytical 're-enactment' of the music - that is, a narrative account of the concertos as embodied in sound, rather than in the score. The final chapter investigates Chopin's enigmatic 'third concerto', the Allegro de concert. Chopin: The Piano Concertos has won the Wilk Book Prize for Research in Polish Music.

'John Rink maintains the high standards of previous handbooks in the series. The book is extremely informative and well documented, and Rink's concise prose is nicely varied in tone, whether historical, analytical, or as in some places, highly personal in interpretation. Directed at a wide audience of performers, academics and general readers, Rink's perceptive musical insights carry the authority of both scholar and skilled performer.' National Early Music Association