Revisiting a legend : Chopin and l’ancienne salle de concert du Conservatoire
This morning I had the unique opportunity to be given a private walking tour centered upon Chopin’s years in Paris, and the sector of the city still known as ‘la Nouvelle Athènes,’ (‘The New Athens’). This is the Paris of Rossini, Delacroix, Liszt, Lamartine, George Sand, Pauline Viardot, and Hector Berlioz, to name a few. The charming guide was none other than the woman who is one of the principal curators for the phenomenal exhibit currently at the Petit Palais, Catherine Clot le Borderie (‘Paris Romantique 1815-1848’). I was lucky indeed.
For two full hours we were given insights and private views of the dwellings that marked Chopin’s years here, such as where he lived with George Sand at the ‘Square d’Orléans’ when they were not in Majorca or Nohant, and the ‘Salons Pleyel’ where he played to a rapt public and where the famous pianos were manufactured. I was surprised that some of these addresses are just behind places one goes by all the time, for example the ‘Bouillon Chartier’ where I have lunch just about every week, a restaurant legendary in its own right! The tour culminated with an intimate piano recital given by Walter Witt at the ‘Musée de la vie Romantique,’ which I will gladly write about later. It was unforgettable.
To begin, doors were opened for us to what is still considered one of the finest acoustics in the world, “The Stradivarius of concert halls,” closed mostly to the public because of modern norms of security (I did have the opportunity to hear a concert here in the 80s). Music lovers know that it is the concert hall where in 1830 Berlioz heard the first performance of his ‘Symphonie fantastique,’ as well as that of one of my favorite works: ‘Roméo et Juliette:’ friends from NEC will remember our indelible experiences with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, especially unforgettable as inspired by Lorna Cooke deVaron, who had previously worked under the baton of Charles Munch in this wonderful piece.
Chopin of course played memorably several times on this stage – notably in 1832 he was the piano soloist in the 1st movement ‘Allegro’ of his Concerto in E minor – and also in 1833 when he played with Liszt and Hiller in the triple Concerto of Bach (!).
One can at least dream of having been there to hear Chopin playing as described by Heinrich Heine:
« Il n’est pas seulement virtuose, mais bien poète aussi : il peut nous révéler la poésie qui vit dans son âme ; c’est un musicien poète, et rien n’est comparable à la jouissance qu’il nous procure quand il improvise sur le piano. Il n’est en ce moment ni Polonais, ni Français, ni Allemand, il trahit une plus haute origine : il vient du pays de Mozart, de Raphaël, de Goethe ; sa patrie véritable est le pays de poésie » (Revue et Gazette musicale de Paris, 4 février 1838)