A concert restaging F. Chopin’s performence originally given on 7 July 1848 at the residence of Lord Falmouth, London.
On 12 May 2024 in Drummohr House, Scotland, Anna Dębowska and Poland’s soprano Katarzyna Oleś-Blacha restaged the concert F. Chopin originally gave on 7 July 1848 at the residence of Lord Falmouth, London. The audience at Drummohr House more than appreciated the performance, rewarding the musicians with a deafening standing ovation. Thus, the Jane Stirling Project has restaged all the public concerts Chopin gave in the UK in 1848.
Spoken word on the history of Drummohr House was given by the owner of the house Finlay M. Lockie and on the background of the concert by Marcin Jaroszek.
On 7 July 1848 Chopin was accompanied by his friend Pauline Viardot and her cousin Antonia de Medni, with whom he had performed in the Pleyel Salon in Paris. As usuall, preparations for the concert were not easy. It was difficult to obtain from Chopin precise information regarding what he was going to play, which is the reason why parts of the programme were vague with just suggestions of the compositions to be performed. Other compositions performed inclided Pauline Viardot’s arrangements of several mazourkas by F. Chopin as well as a number of songs by her father.
Program
ANDANTE SOSTENUTO ET SCHERZO (Op. 31) ……………………… Chopin
MAZOURKAS DE CHOPIN, arrangees par Madame Viardot Garcia
Madame VIARDOT GARCIA et Mlle, DE MENDI
ETUDES (19,13, et 14) ………………………………………………………………. Chopin
AIR, „Ich denke dein” ………………………………………………………………… Beethoven
Madame VIARDOT GARCIA
NOCTURNE ET BERCEUSE ……………………………………………………… Chopin
RONDO, „Non Piu mesta” (Cenerentola)……………………………………….. Rossini
Madame VIARDOT GARCIA
PRELUDES, MAZOURKAS, BALLADE, VALSES ……………………… Chopin
AIRS ESPAGNOLES, Madame VIARDOT GARCIA
et Mlle, DE MENDI
Photo gallery
Anna Dębowska (piano) and Norway’s Edvard Adde (tenor) at Bamff House, Scotland – the residence of Paul and Luise Ramsay of Bamff, on 16 October 2022, restaged F. Chopin’s Matinee Musicale originally given by F. Chopin at 99 Eaton Pace, London, on 23 June 1848 at the residence of Mrs. Adelaide Sartoris, whom he knew in Paris. She herself was a soprano and had married Edward John Sartoris – a wealthy man of fashion, with aspirations to become a Member of Parliament. This concert was one of the few Chopin gave in London and the first public one in Britain. It began at 3 pm and tickets, limited in number, were one guinea each.
Performed on the iconic barless Broadwood grand piano, the restaged concert intended to reconstruct the original programme of the 1848 concert as well as the authentic atmosphere of this concert, including the audience and venue profile.
PROGRAMME
F. Chopin – Andante op. 22 precedé d’un Largo
L. van Beethoven – „Le penitent”
F. Chopin – Andante sostenuto, Etudes op. 25 nr 1, 2
G. Alary – Melodie „Reine des Nuits”
F. Chopin – Nocturne, Berceuse, Impromptu
G. Donizetti – Romance, „Ange si pur”
F. Chopin – Mazurka, Ballade, Valse
Photo gallery
It was on 26 October 2018 that we had the pleasure to celebrate the conclusion of the 2018 Jane Stirling Festival with the descendants of Jane Stirling – Patrick and Susan Stirling-Aird of Kippenross and Henrietta Sommervell – the great grat niece of Jane Stirling. We were joined during a special dinner organized by the Jane Stirling Project by a number of reputable guests representing the world of Kraków’s academia – The Jagiellonian University, Kraków Music Academy and Kraków Sports Academy.
