In many ways, Chopin is perhaps the perfect piano composer. The Frenchman was someone who understood everything about the instrument, from its technical capabilities to its musical potential. Composed between 1827 and 1846, Chopin’s nocturnes may not be his most technically demanding works, but they are nevertheless shining jewels in the piano repertoire, each packed with emotion and displaying the composer’s exquisite gift for soaring melody. The Italian pianist Maurizio Pollini is the high priest of Chopin, and he brings out the refinement and beauty of each nocturne with seeming effortlessness.