With a background that bridges philosophy, international studies, and concert piano performance, Italian pianist Alberto Nones brings a unique voice to classical music. As his much-anticipated Complete Chopin Waltzes album prepares for release in May 2025, Nones speaks with us about how his intellectual path has informed his artistry and why music, now more than ever, matters deeply.
Let’s start at the beginning. Was the piano always part of your life growing up?
Alberto Nones is a Fazioli partner (https://www.fazioli.com/en/references/)
“Yes, of course,” Nones responds warmly. “The piano has been part of my life since childhood—not as a career choice at the time, but more as a natural extension of a desire to understand beauty, structure, and emotion.”
That early connection grew deeper as he pursued academic studies in philosophy and international relations. “I realised that music offered a unique synthesis of all these elements. In a sense, the piano became both a tool of expression and a lens through which to read the world.”
How does this blend of disciplines shape your interpretation of music today?
“I don’t see my intellectual background as separate from music,” he says. “Every note I play is informed by what I’ve read, studied, thought about, and experienced. Music isn’t an isolated art—it reflects and refracts the human condition, history, society, even politics.”
For Nones, this interconnected view informs not just performance, but purpose. “I believe in the power of culture to shape consciousness and perhaps even nudge the world in a better direction. So when I approach a piece by Chopin, I do so not only as a pianist, but as someone who sees in his music an echo of the fragility and dignity of human life.”
Newly discovered Waltz in A Minor, F. Chopin, on a Pleyel – Alberto Nones
Your upcoming album features the complete Chopin Waltzes, including the so-called “New York Waltz.” Did that discovery inspire the project?
“In part, yes,” he acknowledges. “The Waltz in A Minor—often dubbed the ‘New York Waltz’—was released as a single by me in November 2024. But the album, set for release this May by Halidon Music, is not just about that one piece.”
Instead, the project is rooted in a deeper artistic vision. “I wanted to present Chopin not as a figure confined to romantic nostalgia, but as a profoundly modern spirit. Taken together, his waltzes form an existential dance—one that reflects joy, irony, memory, and melancholy.”
While other recordings, such as Stephen Hough’s reissued set, include the “New York Waltz” as an addendum, Nones has taken a different path. “I structured my album around it, placing it at the center—as a reflective mirror through which to view the other waltzes.” His accompanying essay, included with the CD and available on Halidon Music’s website, further elaborates this approach—one that appears to be, in a word, anti-virtuosic.
Many interpretations, he notes, treat the waltzes as elegant salon miniatures. “That’s a valid perspective,” he allows, “but I see something deeper: a piercing awareness on Chopin’s part of the contradictions of both the social and individual realms. These pieces are not merely decorative—they are profound existential reflections.”
You wrote in the album notes that the newly found Waltz evokes memories of Chopin’s Preludes. Is there one in particular it resembles?
“Rather than pointing to a specific Prelude, what struck me is the form,” Nones explains. “This Waltz shares the Preludes’ aphoristic brevity—just a few bars that open up an entire emotional universe. In that distilled space, Chopin reveals something raw and unresolved: a glimpse into his anguished soul, and perhaps, into ours.”
For Nones, this isn’t about virtuosity or spectacle. “It’s about intimacy, fragility, and truth. These are not just musical gestures—they’re philosophical positions.”
Chopin Waltzes (Complete) | Alberto Nones
What’s next for you? Any upcoming projects you’re especially excited about?
Alberto Nones and his Pleyel, used for the world premiere recording
on a period instrument of the New York Waltz (November 1, 2024)
Nones doesn’t hesitate. “In addition to continuing my deep dive into Chopin—with another album already in the works—I’m honoured to be working on a profoundly meaningful project: the world premiere recording of Stars Over the Sleeping City, a nocturne by Palestinian composer Mahmoud Abuwarda.”
The piece, he explains, is brief yet haunting, imbued with emotional intensity. “It captures what the composer describes as ‘the last night of peace’ for civilians in Gaza before everything unraveled. It’s more than music—it’s a gesture. A gesture of empathy, resistance, and hope.”
In a world fraught with conflict, Nones believes music has a responsibility. “Whether classical or rock, music must speak to the moment. The only genre that truly matters is the human one.”
He pauses, reflecting on the recent passing of Pope Francis, which occurred just a day before our conversation. “He was among the few global voices to speak with such moral clarity about compassion and justice. His loss is immense, but his legacy is a call to action. I hope, in my own way, to follow that light through music.”
He adds, “Next up for me, assuming World War III doesn’t break out in full while we keep playing merrily on the Titanic, should be recording the Preludes—a work we’ve already begun to explore together. If all goes to plan, it will mark another step toward what might become the first complete recording of Chopin’s works by an Italian pianist. That, at least, is the rather ambitious journey I seem to have signed myself up for.”
Learn more about the album “Chopin: Complete Waltzes, including the New York Waltz”.
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