Boiling Point

Donald Macleod enters the Parisian world of Frederic Chopin. Today, Chopin’s strange relationship with the writer George Sand reaches boiling point.

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, we find Chopin moving very definitely up in the world as he takes possession, with George Sand, of a splendid new apartment on the elegant Square d’Orléans. But behind it, cracks are beginning to show in the relationship between Sand and her little Chip-Chip.

Waltz No 6 in D flat major, Op 64 No 1 “Minute Waltz”
Jean-Yves Thibaudet, piano

Prelude in E minor, Op 28 No 4
Eric Lu, piano

Berceuse in D-flat major, Op 57
Bertrand Chamayou, piano

Piano Sonata No 3 in B minor, Op 58 (i. Allegro maestoso, ii. Scherzo)
Stephen Hough, piano

Nocturne No 8 in D flat major, Op 27 No 2 + improvisation
Gabriela Montero, piano

Barcarolle in F sharp major, Op 60
Martha Argerich, piano

Sonata for piano and cello (i. Allegro moderato)
Alisa Weilerstein, cello
Inon Barnatan, piano

Produced by Amelia Parker for BBC Audio Wales and West