In this recording, Jan Michiels transports us back to the Parisian salons of the 19th century. These were not only an ideal environment for Chopin – his Préludes op. 28 are a recurring thread throughout this album – but also for Debussy, whose Préludes are closely correlated with those of Chopin. Michiels opens his salon to various visitors: first Alfred Cortot, whose Chopin interpretations captivated generations of pianists, then György Ligeti and finally his friend György Kurtág. Michiels likes to dream that the 1894 Érard grand piano on which the Préludes by Chopin and Debussy were recorded might once have adorned a salon that Proust visited. “I wondered whether music was not the only example of how souls might have communicated if language had not been invented, words formulated and ideas analyzed. It is like a possibility that has not been acted upon."
