Chopin's 24

When Chopin sat down in 1835 and started to compose a prelude he had no idea that it would become a set of 24 preludes that would be performed together on concert programs in the 20th and 21st centuries. I mean, after spending four years on this opus 28 I don't blame concert pianists for doing it. Cortot was the first to record all as a set in 1926. You go boy! Chopin in a way, sets up several of the preludes for, well, the next prelude. It is like a cliffhanger at the end of an T.V. episode. After he had his first brief rendezvous with George Sand in the winter of 1838/39, he sent in his preludes to be published. How do I feel about them . . .well I like them. They don't blow my mind, but in listening and playing through them they seem to expand my horizon. I love the variety, if you're playing them as a set. Also, they are, in a way, fun. For the fingers some are easy and some are difficult, there are HAPPY ones and there are ones that were played at Chopin's funeral. Character-wise you need to find the various moods that are being portrayed in each prelude. I think this is one thing to drive a performance of all 24, the presentation of all the characters or moods.