Introduction

Culturally, the Paris which greeted Frederic Chopin, under Louis-Philippe, was a centre of intellectual ferment, and the musical capital of Europe. Instrumental virtuosos flocked there, and played regularly in public halls, their triumphs being recorded in the widely read newspapers. Chopin assisted in the fund-raising activities of the Czartoryskis, attended many of their soirees, and played occasionally at the concerts they arranged for Poles in exile. Chopin was elected a member of the Society in 1833, but his relationship with it seems to have been ambivalent. Chopin, in his performances in Paris, was drawing on his experience elsewhere, notably in Poland. Throughout his time in Paris, Chopin lived within striking distance of the Comedie Francaise, the Opera, the Opera-Comique, and the Theatre-Italien. Chopin and Stefan Witwicki had known each other in Warsaw, and the Pole was one of those friends who had encouraged Chopin to compose a Polish national opera.