Who is Friedrich Chopin from The Great Pianists and what is their importance?

Friedrich Chopin was the first great pianist who broke with classicism to play in the style of romanticism. Chopin was a slight, refined-looking and fastidious, snobbish little man with a big nose and pale complexion. He made changes in fingering and pedaling that remained in style for many years. Chopin was the most popular early romantic pianist. Although he got along well with his peers, he did not like their music and hated romanticism. His music was called exotic or insane for its "bold dissonance and strange harmonies." Chopin left Warsaw, Poland for Paris at twenty-one as a fully-developed pianist and composer. His techniques and skills did not change but grew deeper as he got older. Chopin met Liszt in Paris and admired his strength and appearance. They were friends for years despite Chopin telling Liszt to play a piece the way he wrote it or not at all.