Chopin in the Opera

The question was asked during the composer's lifetime and many decades later alike. To this day, some people wish the "poet of the piano" had created a great work for stage.

Yet, anybody who was close to Fryderyk knew perfectly well that he often attended the opera and did not deny himself the pleasure of commenting on these visits.

The first traces of visits to the opera date back to the teenage years. -Oh horror! The Barber went nasty - eighteen-year-old Chopin complained...

Also, the Telemachus opera was played or scheduled; a novelty I have not seen; so I cannot tell you anything about it. - Othello, it seems to me you have not seen it yet and that you praised Polkowski who performs best in this opera. Meyerowa's singing as usual.

Many a time, Chopin spared no words of admiration for the singers. We can find an example in the twenty-year-old composer's letter to Tytus Woyciechowski...

You would delight in her phrasing, her shading is splendid, and although her voice was shaking at the beginning, she went on to sing boldly later. The opera was shortened. Perhaps that was why I found no error of boring longueur in it.

A year later, Stefan Witwicki urged Fryderyk: You absolutely must be the creator of the Polish opera; I have the deepest conviction that you can become one [...] 

Mountains, forests, waters and meadows have their original, inner voice, although not every soul understands it. I am convinced that Slavic opera, brought to life by true talent, will shine someday in the musical world like a new sun.

In the opera, they are preparing the sun for "The Prophet"; as it seems, it is going to outdo any tropical suns - Chopin marveled a few months before his death.

It consists of beams of electric light. I was too sick to go to the rehearsal the day before yesterday, but I hope for the premiere. Was he able to see the staging of "The Prophet"? We do not know.

Fryderyk advised his students to try to produce a sound similar to singing while playing, and to lead the musical phrase according to the rhythm of their breathing. 

Chopin himself would often breathe the atmosphere of perfume and evening gowns, and saw in it a cure for many afflictions.