PERFORMED & CREATED BY PIANIST EVELYNE BRANCART
“…dedicated to Chopin, with all my respect and love. I wish that I could have cooked these recipes for him. I wish that he could have given me his reactions, even if he were to pronounce the idea insane, or were to comment that he never would have chosen fish for Opus 25 Nos. 4 and 5…” Evelyne Brancart
The brilliant pianist Evelyne Brancart, for the past ten years head of the prestigious piano department at Indiana University, has enjoyed a lifelong love affair with Chopin’s 24 Études. Her workshops and master classes on the Études are popular events. When she’s not performing or teaching, she makes a specialty of creating scrumptious French cuisine. Now these two passions are joined in a unique project, Chez Chopin.
Chez Chopin offers a live performance of the 24 Études — full of spontaneity, subtlety, abandon, joy and insight. Listening to such a delightful performance of these pieces, one can’t help recognizing what fun they can be to play. Each Étude is paired with a detailed recipe, accompanied by mouth-watering illustrations of the finished dish.
Brancart says: “Gathering together in the presence of brilliant music to share a magnificent meal feeds both brain and body… I am modestly but joyfully celebrating Chopin’s Études by associating them with color, taste and smell. I hope that you find this collection pleasurable. Chopin; a lot of flavor; food for the soul.”
