Renowned Polish composer Frédéric François Chopin (1810-1849) composed an amazing variety of compositions including some 50 mazurkas, 25 preludes, 24 etudes, 21 nocturnes, 17 waltzes, 11 polonaises, 4 ballades and 3 sonatas. Chopin's E minor and F minor Piano Concertos, however, are particularly important as they played a vital role in his career as a composer-pianist. Chopin: The Piano Concertos, written by Chopin expert John Rink - recipient of a Ph.D. from Cambridge University for his thesis The Evolution of Chopin's `Structural Style' and its Relation to Improvisation in May, 1989 - provides an engaging, comprehensive analysis of these concertos as well as providing vital information about the environment in which these Concertos were composed and how they were received. The author's multifaceted exploration of these concertos successfully provides the reader with a sound understanding of Chopin's Piano Concertos as well as offering a deeper appreciation for his work and his genius. As well as including Chopin's E minor and F minor Piano Concertos, the book is complete with an in-depth analysis of Chopin's enigmatic `third concerto', the Allegro de concert.

Before going into Chopin's Piano Concertos, the author sets the tone for the book by noting that "Chopin's piano concertos have enjoyed enormous popularity ever since their composition ... but they have also suffered some of the harshest scholarly criticism inflicted on his works". He rebuttals with, "... when viewed as music to be performed rather than scores to be dissected on paper, they belong to [Chopin's] most successful creations". He offers this book as "[an attempt] to set the record straight, re-evaluating the concertos against the early nineteenth-century traditions that shaped them so that their many outstanding qualities can be better appreciated."

In his first chapter, appropriately titled "Creation", the author explains the great significance of the Piano Concertos to Chopin's evolution as a musician. He describes the creation of Chopin's F minor Concerto, Chopin's newly found commitment to a virtuoso career, the creation of the E minor Concerto, and offers a brief introductory analysis of the parallels between these two concertos. He goes on to describe the first performances, first reviews and first editions of these concertos, explaining the general acceptance of Chopin as a genius in the musical community, yet also the criticism Chopin faced introducing a creativity that was often mistaken as a weakness. The chapter continues with an overview of the publication of these concertos and concludes with an insightful section titled "Chopin as teacher", outlining Chopin's teaching practices and depicting a connection between the glosses in scores used by Chopin's pupils and associates and Chopin's own playing and teaching styles.

Before reevaluating the concertos, the author provides a chapter titled "Interpretation", summarizing Chopin's incredibly diverse reception over the past 150 years and providing an inclusive summary of reactions from noted critics, composers, editors and performers. These reactions include, among others, those of critics Ludwig Rellstab, Gottfried Fink, J. W. Davidson, and those of composers Schumann and Liszt. An analysis of Frederick Nieck's influential biography of Chopin - the first scholarly monograph on Chopin - and its impact on society and influence on future authors assessing the concertos is also included. The author continues with a description of the trials and tribulations in the musical scores of these concertos, explaining the evolution of the scores from first edition to later versions, collected editions, editions with second-piano accompaniment, full scores, transcriptions and arrangements and finally re-orchestrations. The chapter concludes with a discussion titled "Performers", a very interesting and informative section considering Chopin's first two concertos are available on over seventy recordings each, performed by most concert pianists throughout the twentieth century. The author describes an appeal from several of Chopin's former students - Lenz, Mikuli and Princess Marcelina Czartoryska - that Chopin's concertos had been misinterpreted, and goes on to further debate the interpretations of Chopin's music.

Having successfully prepared the readers, author John Rink goes on to offer his own re-evaluation of the two concertos. Beginning my explaining the principles and premises by which music is evaluated, he describes his narrative approach in the analytical re-evaluation of Chopin's concertos:

"I shall first define each movement's skeletal structure, identifying important `stabilizing' features such as tonal scheme and sectional form, and then in tracing through the music I shall observe temporally defined processes like the generation and relaxation of momentum, rhythmic flux, and small- and large-scale gestural impulse, all of which help to transform the structural bedrock into a living musical statement."

He goes on to do just that, providing 17 pages of analysis on Chopin's Opus 21 and a subsequent 22 pages of analysis on Opus 11. He cautions that "words can never fully capture musical experience: its temporal course and emotional impact ultimately lie beyond the powers of verbal description" and continues by stating that "the foregoing analytical re-evaluation is in one sense another futile attempt to encapsulate the concertos in words, but at least it has been undertaken in a spirit of appreciation, not denigration. If nothing else, it has revealed the utter hollowness of Nieck's criticisms and those of his successors".

Finally, the fifth and final chapter "Chopin's third concerto" explores Chopin's third concerto, the Allegro de concert... Unlike the other two concertos, the author concludes that the current evaluation of this concerto is quite fair and states:

"it may be a legitimate interpretation, sure to be superseded in due course, but for the time being enlightening some aspect of the music's elusive meaning while leaving space for fresh evaluations to come."

The nature of this book is somewhat complex, however this book appeals not only to the music scholar but also to the music enthusiast. The comprehensive, informative and engaging nature of the book alone is sufficient to give it purpose, however, the heart of this book really lies in the re-evaluation of Chopin's first two concertos. John Rink set out to set the records straight, and succeeded to do so in an analytic and objective manor. As a devoted admirer of Chopin's work myself, having listened to Chopin everyday during the entire 9 month term before my birth and having learned to play his pieces since the age of 3, I find deep emotion, passion and genius in Chopin's work. However, to write a book such as this one takes a vast scholastic understanding of music and Chopin in particular, and John Rink is certainly qualified to do so. Previously I had little knowledge of these concertos, however I'm sure that even if I had, I would still have found this book to be very valuable, as I'm sure many others have and will. It is a valuable and much needed contribution to the study of Chopin.