For those not in the know, Laura Lootens’ deeply sensitive tribute to music of Romantic essence here on her brand new album Shape of My Heart (out October 9th, 2026 via Naive Records) ranges from Frédéric Chopin, in transcriptions by guitarists Jerzy Koenig and Tariq Harb, to La Chanson des vieux amants as sung by Jacques Brel and the sumptuous lyricism of Agustin Barrios Mangore.

As a teenager, Laura Lootens discovered a song by Sting that deeply moved her. From the 1993 album Ten Summoner’s Tales, Shape of My Heart has remained her favorite song, to this day. She includes it as an epilogue on her second album for Naive, which she conceived as a heartfelt tribute to music of Romantic essence.

At its core lies Frédéric Chopin - the epitome of Romanticism - who with his Waltzes, Mazurkas and Nocturnes delighted the salon society of the nineteenth century, those refined spaces that straddled aristocracy and bourgeoisie. He remains the ultimate embodiment of a Romanticism both profound and exquisitely elegant.

Chopin: 3 Waltzes, Op. 34: No. 2 in A Minor, Lento
Barrios Mangoré: Mazurka Apasionada
Chopin: 24 Preludes, Op. 28: No. 15 in D-Flat Major, Sostenuto
Barrios Mangoré: 4 Waltzes, Op. 8
No. 3 in D Minor, Vals
No. 4 in G Major, Vals Brillante
Chopin: Prelude Op. 28 No. 4 in E minor
Chopin: 2 Waltzes, Op. 69: No. 2 in B Minor, Moderato
Laura Lootens: 24 Preludios Chopinianos: No. 7 in A Major, Andantino
Chopin: 3 Nocturnes, Op. 9: No. 2 in E-Flat Major, Andante
Field: Notturno in B-Flat Major, H 37
Mertz: Élégie in A Minor
Monnot: Hymne a l’amour
Jacques Brel, Gérard Jouannest: La chanson des vieux amants
Sting, Dominic James Miller: Shape of My Heart

Communicating a style that alternates between restraint and incandescent intensity within these enduring resonances of Romanticism, Laura opens on Frédéric Chopin’s studiously ardent, yet at all times enrapturing and elegant 3 Waltzes, Op. 34: No. 2 in A Minor, Lento; and then we get the softly toned, yet formidably present when required Agustin Pio Barrios Mangoré work Mazurka Apasionada and the all-embracing melodies that flow within Chopin’s 24 Preludes, Op. 28: No. 15 in D-Flat Major, Sostenuto.

Along next is Mangoré’s 4 Waltzes, Op. 8, which opens on the simply sumptuous No. 3 in D Minor, Vals before culminating on the more strident, yet playful fare of No. 4 in G Major, Vals Brillante; and then we are gifted the supple notes and rhythms that come together to form Chopin’s Prelude Op. 28 No. 4 in E minor; the free-flowing gilded musicianship that drives Chopin’s 2 Waltzes, Op. 69: No. 2 in B Minor, Moderato; with Laura Lootens’ decadently appealing 24 Preludios Chopinianos: No. 7 in A Major, Andantino thereafter.

The third, and final chapter opens on Chopin’s delicately-hued 3 Nocturnes, Op. 9: No. 2 in E-Flat Major, Andante; then we get brought forth the veritable gossamer of John Field’s Notturno in B-Flat Major, H 37; Johann Kaspar Mertz’s angelically-sculpted Élégie in A Minor; the pleasantly alluring Marguerite Monnot work Hymne a l’amour; the set rounding out on the emotively radiant Jacques Brel and Gérard Jouannest work La chanson des vieux amants, coming to a close on an affectingly engaging rendition of Sting’s Shape of My Heart.

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