The late Malcolm Frager was one of America"s greatest pianists. He was trained by his teacher Carl Friedberg--pupil of Clara Schumann and friend of Brahms--in the great Romantic tradition. In this superb, wide-range digital recording, Frager plays some of Chopin"s best-known music with color and poetic expression. In the opening two Polonaises, Frager handles the virtuosic demands unobtrusively, making beautiful music even out of the glittery difficulties of the Grande Polonaise. The Sonata receives a heroic performance, with touching playing of the long largo. This disc is a wonderful souvenir of a great artist who deserves to be remembered by all pianophiles. --Leslie Gerber