By the age of 39, Frédéric Chopin was dead, but he left behind a remarkable legacy of compositions for solo piano. A virtuoso pianist, his writing may have been challenging but he never lost sight of melody that could often be traced back to folkloric inspiration. A Polish national treasure, Chopin finds a contemporary interpreter of his music par excellence in Adam Palma, the Polish-born but English-based guitar virtuoso. Undaunted by the challenge of adapting a selection of Chopin’s waltz’s, mazurkas, preludes and nocturnes to his steel-string Fylde Falstaff, he goes further by giving each selection a contemporaneous interpretation. Sometimes this can be by way of rhythmic modulation – ‘Mazurek F-dur op. 64 nr 2’ or ‘Mazurka in F major’ to you and me, and the opening track ‘Polonez A-dur op.40 nr 1’, or ‘Polonaise in A major’ were both written in 3/4 but Palma performs them in 4/4 – and throughout he gives subtle emphasis to Chopin’s compositions and realising the inherent melodic content of his writing. Ultimately, it’s Palma’s ability to elide the written and the improvised and back with such elegant virtuosity and evenness of articulation that makes this a very special album indeed.