It’s difficult to say which was more annoying Friday, Jan. 15, at Sherwood Auditorium, the coughers in the audience or the singing of patrons’ hearing aids. Part of La Jolla Music Society’s Frieman Family Piano Series, which is underwritten by Conrad Prebys and Debbie Turner, the all-Chopin recital is also part of the larger Chopin Bicentennial Celebration. The hearing aid duets and trios were such a problem that LJMS President and Artistic Director Christopher Beach took the stage to ask people to check their assistive devices. A recording was in progress, he said, just following Garrick Ohlsson’s performance of the program’s first two sections, Three Nocturnes, Opus 9, and Two Polonaises, Opus 40. Ohlsson is an esteemed pianist who plays with astonishing dynamic contrasts. His bombastic approach to pedals and the Steinway’s lower register, juxtaposed with the sheer brilliance of his technical facility, make him a fascinating recitalist. There is no boredom here, only concern over the possible apparent decline of the Belanich Steinway, which sounds distressingly like two different instruments, the one initially heard in February 2008 as introduced by Ohlsson, and the other heard Friday night. The program ranged from Chopin’s greatest hits — Nocturne No. 2 in E-flat Major, Sonata No. 2 in B-flat Major, which contains the well known, often parodied “March funebre,” the Polonaise No. 1 in A Major (“Military”) and the Etude No. 3 in E Major. These works, so familiar that our seatmate chose to sing along, contrasted with the rarely heard “Variations brillantes on Je vends des scapulaires” from Louis Herold’s unfinished opera, “Ludovic.” As an encore (generous after a two-hour recital) Ohlsson played the finale from Mozart’s Sonata in C. It was refreshing. The Chopin Bicentennial year, 2010, encompasses performances of Chopin’s complete works for solo piano, beginning with Friday’s recital and continuing with performances by Jean-Frederic Neuburger (March 7), Orion Weiss (May 21), Anne-Marie McDermott (Oct. 22), Gleb Ivanov (Nov. 14) and Melvyn Tan (Dec. 10). Under the baton of maestro Jahja Ling, Ohlsson performs Chopin’s “Andante Spaniato et Grande Polonaise brillante” and Piano Concerto No 2 with San Diego Symphony Feb. 12-14. He performs again with the Symphony Nov. 5-7, playing Piano Concerto No. 1 (www.sandiegosymphony.org). LJMS SummerFest features two Chopin programs, “From the Salon to the Opera House” (Aug. 14 and “Chopin’s Paris” (Aug. 21). Other Chopin Bicentennial Participants are California Ballet (www.californiaballet.org) and San Diego Youth Symphony (www.sdys.org). For a brochure, go to www.ljms.org or call (858) 459-3728.