Chopin the pianist has been greatly overshadowed by Chopin the composer. When Chopin the pianist is mentioned, it is his dreamy gaze and supple wrists (as well as countless female admirers gathered around the piano returning that same dreamy stare). But Chopin was a formidable pianist in his own right; after all, he was able to play, from start to finish, all twenty-four of his études, a set of pieces so demanding that even today’s great pianists feel taxed after performing them. Two things could account for this oversight: for one, any pianist for whom no extant recordings exist is likely not to weather time well. Secondly, Chopin’s coeval and friend, Franz Liszt, was of such legendary prowess that Chopin himself wished he could play his own études the way Liszt did. Nevertheless, Chopin deserves to be remembered not just as a composer of challenging pieces but as a pianist capable of executing, with panache, these very pieces.

Which of the following, if true, would cast the most doubt on the author’s contention regarding Chopin the pianist?

A. Chopin rarely, if ever, played the piano works of other composers.
B. Apart from a cello concerto and a few other works, Chopin composed mainly for the piano.
C. Chopin seldom performed his études in concerts, preferring to play in front of a small group.
D. Not all of Chopin’s compositions are as difficult to execute as his études.
E. Chopin himself acknowledged that he was primarily a composer, and would have composed even more difficult pieces had he the ability to play them.



In the context in which it appears, “weather” most nearly means

A. perish
B. subsist
C. withstand
D. transform
E. sustain