"I had the sense I was on a mission when I decided to do this project," recounts Poland-based Japanese pianist Yuko Kawai, who has been introducing authentic versions of the works of Chopin (1810-49) — as restored in musical scores published as the National Edition — through her Chopinissimo recital series since 2001. "But since it started, it has given me a lot of pleasure."

The National Edition of Frederic Chopin is a series of scores, approved in 1959 by the Polish government, of works by the artist widely regarded as the country's greatest composer and virtuoso pianist. His music is among the most performed on stages around the world, and also the most often published as sheet music.

Unfortunately, though, there are many textual differences among more than 100 editions that have been issued in the past 140 years, and it has become difficult to know which are truest to the master's originals.