Chopin in the Salons of Warsaw

Hailed as a wunderkind, Fryderyk Chopin often performed in Warsaw salons as early as a few-year-old. The doors of the most elegant palaces would open in front of him, and the most elegant audience did not skimp on applause for the little virtuoso.

On February 24, 1818, eight-year-old Fryderyk amazed the company gathered at the Radziwiłł Palace at the invitation of Countess Zofia Zamoyska. It was probably the young virtuoso's first public concert. It is worth adding that the concert was a charity event, and among the listeners were Warsaw's most eminent personalities of the time.

Only four years later, the young pianist was invited to the Belvedere Palace, then the residence of Grand Duke Konstanty and his wife. From 1822, Chopin would visited the palace, picturesquely situated on an escarpment overlooking the Łazienki Park, to play for the grand-ducal family.

When Chopin was nine years old, the construction of the building of the Warsaw Charitable Society was completed. Four years later, in 1823, Fryderyk gave there a concert for the poor. He certainly saw the inscription on the front elevation: Res Sacra Miser, which can be translated as: a poor man is sacred.

We can say something more only the concert organized a few days before Christmas 1829 in the Morsztyn Palace, then the Merchant's Resource. The press reviewer introduced the readers to the program of the evening…. 

Mr Bielawski started it with a concert accompanied by an orchestra; after him, P. Copello sang with the accompaniment of Mr. Chopin - the press reported - The singing of Mr. Dorville, an artist of French theater, was accompanied by Mr. Soliva, then P. Bielawski entertained the audience playing solo, and Mr. Chopin's fantaisies with various well-known melodies finished the evening. What melodies were those? We have no idea today.

Concerts in Warsaw parlours were undoubtedly a valuable experience for Chopin. He gained a worldly polish, got to know representatives of the intelligentsia and respected artists while helping raise funds for noble causes. Today, we can only envy the regulars of those musical evenings!