Keeping Up Appearances

Donald Macleod enters the Parisian world of Frederic Chopin. Today, Chopin and his lover George Sand try to escape prying eyes, finding rural escapes and separate apartments.

He was the poet of the piano, the master of the exquisite miniature, one of the greatest virtuoso pianists of the Romantic era, a magician at the keyboard... This week, Donald Macleod follows Frederic Chopin’s years in Paris, the epicentre of culture at the time and the stage where most of his all-too-short life was acted out. In the years that Chopin lived there, the 1830s and ’40s, Paris suffered political turmoil and deadly epidemics, whilst drawing artists, writers and musicians from all over the world. Following Chopin’s many house moves, we hear how the young composer made his name among the city’s most prestigious salons, established himself as the go-to teacher in town, and rubbed shoulders with fellow creatives, including a long and stormy relationship with the novelist George Sand.

Today, Chopin and his lover George Sand escape the prying eyes and wagging tongues of Paris. They take a disastrous trip to Majorca, and find creative and romantic retreat at Sand’s country house. But back in the city, they have to keep up appearances…

Etude Op 10 No 5 in G flat major “Black Keys”
Murray Perahia, piano

Prelude Op 28 No 15 “Raindrop”
Maurizio Pollini, piano

3 Nouvelles Etudes
Idil Biret, piano

Piano Sonata No 2 in B flat minor (i. Grave, ii. Scherzo)
Benjamin Grosvenor, piano

Impromptu in F sharp major, Op 36
Gábor Farkas, piano

Chopin, arr. Viardot: Mazurka no 24 in C major, Op 33 No 3 “Berceuse”
No 30 in G major, Op 50 No 1 “La danse”
Urszula Kryger, mezzo
Charles Spencer, piano

Polonaise in A flat major “Heroic”, Op 53
Evgeny Kissin, piano

Produced by Amelia Parker for BBC Audio Wales and West