Chopin was a genius, and they are hard to find these days, or ever. He was half French. He loved Poland and his music is mostly Polish inspired, but grander.   

Originally written by Derek Thornton on November 24, 2009 7:51 PM Originally written by Jacek K. on November 24, 2009 6:07 PM Most but not all. I am off to LAUTTEN COMPAGNEY Wolfgang KATSCHNER - conductor Susanne KREUSCH - mezzosoprano (Serse) Jean Michel FUMAS - contratenor (Arsamene) Luciana MANCINI - mezzosoprano (Amastris) Matthias VIEWEG - bass (Ariodate) Paula TURCAS - soprano (Romilda) Heidi Maria TAUBERT - mezzosoprano (Atalanta) Florian GÖTZ - bass (Elviro) Georg Friedrich HÄNDEL - Serse (Xerxes)  Not one Polish-sounding name amongst them! What happened to all the Polish singers? Chopin must be turning in his grave! I suppose that the orchestra is all Polish to make up for it!

No, the orchestra was all http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lautten_Compagney as the important thing last night was not Chopin turning in his grave but G.F. Haendel enjoying the year of his 250th death anniversary. (How close is that to Palin's prose?)

It was a fantastic concert performance of Haendel's opera Serse (Xerxes)!

As for Polish voices, you can also hear them at the Met. For example, on January 16, in an HD theater near you, Mariusz Kwiecień will sing in G. Bizet's Carmen: http://www.metoperafamily.org/metopera/broadcast/hd_events_current.aspx

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This sounds like tough academic stuff, but the title is interesting:

What is good music?

Roger Scruton
UNDERSTANDING MUSIC
Philosophy and interpretation
244pp. Continuum. £18.99 (US $29.95).
978 1 84706 506 3

http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/the_tls/article6921677.ece