<p>Life of Chopin is classical music biography that represents the definitive account of the life of the great Polish pianist/composer, Frederic Chopin. The story is told by his friend and colleague, the legendary Hungarian pianist, Franz Liszt-the ideal man to relate the brief, but brilliant life of Chopin. Liszt's proximity to the subject and insightful accounts make this Chopin biography resonate as few can. Frederic Francois Chopin (1 March 1810 - 17 October 1849) was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist of the Romantic era who wrote primarily for solo piano. He has maintained worldwide renown as a leading musician of his era, one whose "poetic genius was based on a professional technique that was without equal in his generation." Chopin was born Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin n 1] in what was then the Duchy of Warsaw and grew up in Warsaw, which in 1815 became part of Congress Poland. A child prodigy, he completed his musical education and composed his earlier works in Warsaw before leaving Poland at the age of 20, less than a month before the outbreak of the November 1830 Uprising. At 21, he settled in Paris. Thereafter--in the last 18 years of his life--he gave only 30 public performances, preferring the more intimate atmosphere of the salon. He supported himself by selling his compositions and by giving piano lessons, for which he was in high demand. Chopin formed a friendship with Franz Liszt and was admired by many of his other musical contemporaries (including Rober