Monsieur Chopin

Written and performed by Hershey Felder
Directed by Joel Zwick

Monsieur Chopin, the romantic middle movement of Felder’s composer trilogy, features the story and elegant piano music of Polish composer Fryderyk Chopin (1810-1849). Based on an actual piano lesson occurring in Paris on March 4, 1848, Hershey Felder as Monsieur Chopin reveals secrets about the art of the piano and composition to his students, as well as secrets about himself.

Felder’s studies on Chopin have taken him to the composer’s residences and locales of composition, plus in-depth examinations of the composer’s life and manuscripts, and general period history. Included in the creative process is a scholarly relationship with the United States’ foremost author and professor of Chopin Studies, Dr. Jeffrey Kallberg, a Professor of Music and Chairman of the Music Department at the University of Pennsylvania.

Felder performs several of Chopin’s greatest works, including Polonaise “Héroique,” Op. 53; Polonaise “Militaire,” Op. 40; Grande Valse Brilliante, Op. 18; Nocturne, Op. 27, No. 1, plus a selection of Mazurkas and Preludes. The actor-pianist also plays the famous Nocturne, Op. 9, No. 2 with a recently discovered embellished cadenza in Chopin’s handwriting from 1834, the manuscript of which Felder owns.