Visiting the Prince
Teenage Chopin visits the palace in Antonin, teaches the Princesses and plays music with the Prince.
By The Fryderyk Chopin Institute
Paweł Bień (Chopin Institute)
Fryderyk Chopin in the salon of prince Antoni Radziwiłł (1888) by Rudolf SchusterThe Fryderyk Chopin Institute
Who would not want to host a genius like Chopin?
We must remember that, according to the witnesses, Fryderyk's charm lied not only in his composing talent and in the sensitivity of his performance, but also in his sense of humor, personal grace and excellent manners.
Portrait of Zofia Zamoyska from Czartoryski family (20. Century) by UnknownThe Fryderyk Chopin Institute
In the aristocratic milieu
Although not of noble origin himself, Fryderyk gave concerts in the parlours of Warsaw palaces from an early age. There, he was around many aristocratic families. The enthusiasm and applause of the high-born certainly gave him confidence in his own creative potential.
Fryderyk Chopin in the salon of prince Antoni Radziwiłł (1888) by Rudolf SchusterThe Fryderyk Chopin Institute
Prince the cellist
It is therefore not surprising that nineteen-year-old Fryderyk was invited by Prince Antoni Radziwiłł, the Prussian governor of the Grand Duchy of Poznań, who was also an avid music lover. The Prince played the cello and even composed.
View of the hall at the Antonin Palace and the Guildhall in London by UnknownThe Fryderyk Chopin Institute
The palace
Chopin was hosted in the princely residence in Antonin, designed by an architecture star of the time, Karl Friedrich Schinkel. The locality was named after the Prince himself who awaited the young virtuoso with his wife and daughters in the palace.
Eliza Radziwiłłówna's album Page 26The Fryderyk Chopin Institute
Chopin and the princesses
Fryderyk's task was to teach the prince's daughters piano lessons. Reading the composer's letters, we can get the impression that those duties were not at all onerous.
As Chopin wrote to a friend: There were two Eves [...] young princesses, very kind and friendly, musical, sensitive creatures.
Portrait of Fryderyk Chopin at the piano (c. 1826) by Eliza RadziwiłłównaThe Fryderyk Chopin Institute
Portrait at the piano
The princely couple's daughter, Eliza Radziwiłłówna, apparently liked her teacher as well, since she drew two portraits of him in her album. In one of them, Fryderyk is sitting at the then fashionable table piano.
Eliza Radziwiłłówna's album Page 24The Fryderyk Chopin Institute
In paradise
Reporting his stay in Antonin to his relatives, Fryderyk appreciated the atmosphere of the house: –I was there a week; you can't think how I enjoyed it.–he wrote.
I came back by the last post; and even then I was scarcely allowed to leave. So far as my temporary personal pleasure went, I would have stopped there till they turned me out; but my affairs [...] spurred me on to abandon that paradise.
Trio g-moll na fortepian, skrzypce i wiolonczelę op. 8 Trio g-moll na fortepian, skrzypce i wiolonczelę op. 8 (1829/1829) by Fryderyk ChopinThe Fryderyk Chopin Institute
An extraordinary gift
The prince, famous not only for his political activity, but also for his love of playing the cello, certainly enjoyed the gift that Fryderyk made him. Chopin dedicated him his Trio in G minor, Op. 8.
Trio g-moll na fortepian, skrzypce i wiolonczelę op. 8The Fryderyk Chopin Institute
Echoes of Beethoven
The trio is a piece intended for three performers: a pianist, a violinist, and a cellist. Critics welcomed the young composer's work which echoed those of Beethoven and Schubert.
