The liner notes of this album, curiously, dwell almost entirely on George Sand (Amandine-Aurore-Lucile Dupin), the writer who became Chopin's lover for ten years. They are written by the pianist, Ann Schein, an American veteran whose playing and pedagogy have shaped the styles of numerous younger pianists. Why is Sand featured in such detail? The answer seems to be that Schein, quoting Abram Chasins, considers Sand and Chopin players on "the crowded stage upon which the romantic revolution against classicism was being enacted." This is storm-the-barricades Chopin. Schein's Chopin here is technically formidable, full of sharply detailed textures and lines, and inclined toward bigness. It is rarely songful, sweet, or mysterious. The Sonata No. 3 in B minor, Op. 58, with Chopin's musical language overlaid by the conventions of classical sonata procedure and of counterpoint, is ideally suited to Schein's approach; this large, difficult-to-interpret work comes off here as one of Chopin's most ambitious statements. The 24 Preludes fare somewhat less well; although Schein executes every technical challenge Chopin sets, the psychedelic harmonic realms of works like the famed E minor prelude don't have the ineffable Romantic mystery they should, and the sheer profusion of ornamented melody that links Chopin to Bellini is not apparent -- a failing less important in this particular program than it would be in other Chopin selections. Those who enjoy Chopin's piano sonatas will find a strong reading of the last one on this disc.