| Images | |
 The grave of Frédéric Chopin at Père Lachaise, Paris. Picture by Androom (19 Nov 2006) |
 The grave of Frédéric Chopin at Père Lachaise, Paris. Picture by Androom (24 Oct 2014) |
Chopin, Frédéric |
| COMPOSER, PIANIST (POLAND) |
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BORN 1 Mar 1810, Zelazova - DIED 17 Oct 1849, Paris: Place Vendome BIRTH NAME Chopin, Fryderyk Franciszek CAUSE OF DEATH tuberculosis GRAVE LOCATION Paris: Père Lachaise, Rue du Repos 16 (division 11, ligne 01, Y, 20) |
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Son of a French father and a Polish mother. He gave his first concert when he was only eight years old. Fryderyk loved Poland, but in 1831 he moved to Paris to pursue a career as a pianist and a composer. Fryderyk became Frédéric and political developments in Poland prevented his return and he was forced to stay in exile in France for the rest of his life. In 1838 he started a liaison with George Sand, the writer who had divorced her husband in 1836 and received celebrities in her salon at the Hôtel de France in Paris. At her country-seat he wrote his piano compositions. They were happy at first, but in 1846 Sand wrote to a friend that she spent seven of her eight years with Chopin as a virgin. She called him a sad angel. Despite his relatieve youth Chopin's health was failing and his last years were full of health problem. In 1849 he died of tuberculosis. He was buried at Père Lachaise in Paris, but his heart was brought to the Church of the Holy Cross in Warshaw. After his death many of his unpublished work was brought to Poland, where it was lost in a fire. Related persons • was a friend of Cherubini, Luigi • has grave monument designed by Clésinger, Auguste • was teacher of Jaëll, Alfred • knew Kalkbrenner, Friedrich Wilhelm • was a friend of Lind, Jenny • was a friend of Liszt, Franz • was teacher of Mathias, Georges • met Möhring, Ferdinand • met Pesadori-Pechwell, Antonia Helene • was a friend of Pleyel, Camille • was painted by Scheffer, Ary • met Schuncke, Ludwig • was a friend of Slowacki, Juliusz • was a friend of Viardot-Garcia, Pauline Events |
| 23/11/1830 | Chopin arrives in Vienna. It was his second visit to the city, the first one was in 1829. He was accompanied by his friend Tytus Woyciechowski. They stayed in hotel "Zur Stadt London" at the Fleischmarkt and at "Goldenes Lamm" at the Leopoldstrasse 581. After that they took rooms at the house "Zum Englischen Gruß" the Kohlmarkt. After Woyciechowski left Vienna, Chopin moved to a smaller apartment in the same house. |
| 26/2/1831 | Franz Liszt attends Frederic Chopin's debut in Paris. It took place at the Salle Pleyel and the two men met and immediately befriended each other. [Liszt, Franz] |
| 11/6/1831 | Last performance of Frédéric Chopin as a pianist in Vienna |
| 20/7/1831 | Chopin leaves Vienna. With his friend Kumelski. He travelled to Linz, Salzburg and Munich, where he was to wait for supplies from home. |
| 0/0/1835 | Franz Liszt and Marie Pleyel spend the night together in Chopin's apartment in Paris. It was early in 1835. Pleyel was married but she was known to have affairs. The event ended the friendschip between Liszt and Chopin. Late in the spring Liszt moved to Genova and they rarely met afterwards. [Liszt, Franz][Pleyel-Moke, Marie Félicité] |
| 10/7/1837 | Chopin arrives in London with Camille Pleyel. They left Paris on 9 July and took the ferry at Boulogne. They were in London for eleven days. Chopin insisted they went incognito so he could enjoy London as a tourist. They were accompanied by the poet Egbert Kozmian. They had a carriage and visited Windsor, Blackwell and Richmond. Chopin visited opera's and also a concert by Moscheles, but he remained incognito. He also saw and heard Wilhelmine Schröder-Devrient in Beethoven's "Fidelio". Chopin accompanied Pleyel to a soirée at the home of the piano manufacturer J.S. Blackwood where he was introduced as Mr. Fritz from Paris. But he couldn't resist to play the piano and he was soon recognised. Chopin signed contracts with music publisher Wessel. He wouldn't return to Great Britain until 1848. [Pleyel, Camille][Schröder-Devrient, Wilhelmine] |
| 16/11/1848 | Last public performance of Chopin at the Guildhall in London. He played for the benefit of Polish refugees. He was already terminally ill at that time. |
| 16/4/1849 | Premiere of Meyerbeer's "Le prophète" with Pauline Viardot as Fidès. It was performed by the Opera of Paris at the Salle Le Peletier. Jeanne-Anaïs Castellan was Berthe and Gustave-Hippolyte Roger was Jean. Narcisse Girard was the conductor. In the audience were Chopin, Verdi, Théophile Gautier, Delacroix, Ivan Turgenev and Berlioz. It was a great succes and in July it was performed at Covent Garden in London. [Berlioz, Hector][Delacroix, Eugène][Gautier, Théophile][Girard, Narcisse][Meyerbeer, Giacomo][Verdi, Giuseppe][Viardot-Garcia, Pauline] |
| 0/6/1849 | Jenny Lind visits Frédéric Chopin. He lived at an apartment in Chaillot and he would die in October of that year. [Lind, Jenny] |
| 30/10/1849 | Funeral service for Chopin at the Église de la Madeleine in Paris. According to his last wishes, Mozart's "Requiem" was performed by Jeanne-Anaïs Castellan (soprano) and Pauline Viardot-Garcia (mazzo-soprano). Viardot's voice was reported to be soaring above the chorus and orchestra. They were singing incognito behind a black curtain, because women were forbidden to sing in churches and special permission had to be obtained for this performance. The male singers were Alexis Dupont and Luigi Lablache. The conductor was Narcisse Girard. Lablache had sung the same requiem at Beethoven's funeral in 1827. [Girard, Narcisse][Viardot-Garcia, Pauline] |
| Images | |
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The grave of Frédéric Chopin at Père Lachaise, Paris. Picture by Androom (19 Nov 2006) |
The grave of Frédéric Chopin at Père Lachaise, Paris. Picture by Androom (24 Oct 2014) |
Sources • Beyern, Bertrand, Guide des Cimetières en France, Le Cherche Midi Éditeur, Paris, 1994 • Michael Lorenz: A Godson of Frédéric Chopin • Frédéric Chopin - Wikipedia (EN) • Le prophète - Wikipedia (EN) |
