After such a success nothing was more natural than that Chopin should
allow himself to be easily persuaded to play again--il n'y a que le
premier pas qui coute--but he said he would not play a third time.
Accordingly, on August 18, he appeared once more on the stage of the
Karnthnerthor Theatre. Also this time he received no payment, but played
to oblige Count Gallenberg, who, indeed, was in anything but flourishing
circumstances. On this occasion Chopin succeeded in producing the
Krakowiak, and repeated, by desire of the ladies, the Variations.
Two other items of the programme were Lindpaintner's Overture to Der
Bergkonig and a polonaise of Mayseder's played by the violinist Joseph
Khayl, a very young pupil of Jansa's.
The rendering of the Rondo especially [Chopin writes] gave me
pleasure, because Gyrowetz, Lachner, and other masters, nay,
even the orchestra, were so charmed--excuse the expression--
that they called me back twice.
In another letter he is more loquacious on the subject:--
If the public received me kindly on my first appearance, it
was yesterday still more hearty. When I appeared on the stage
I was greeted with a twice-repeated, long-sustained "Bravo!"
The public had gathered in greater numbers than at the first
concert. The financier of the theatre, Baron--I do not
remember his name--thanked me for the recette and said that
if the attendance was great, it was not on account of the
ballet, which had already been often performed. With my Rondo
I have won the good opinion of all professional musicians--
from Capellmeister Lachner to the pianoforte-tuner, all
praise my composition.
The press showed itself not less favourable than the public. The fullest
account of our artist's playing and compositions, and the impression
they produced on this occasion, I found on looking over the pages of the
Wiener Theaterzeitung. Chopin refers to it prospectively in a letter to
his parents, written on August 19. He had called on Bauerle, the editor
of the paper, and had been told that a critique of the concert would
soon appear. To satisfy his own curiosity and to show his people that he
had said no more than what was the truth in speaking of his success,
he became a subscriber to the Wiener Theaterzeitung, and had it sent to
Warsaw. The criticism is somewhat long, but as this first step into the
great world of art was an event of superlative importance to Chopin,
a
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