Frederic Chopin (1810-1849)
This year we are celebrating the bicentennial of the birth of Frederic Chopin, the exceptional pianist and composer. Born on March 1, 1810 in Warsaw of a French father and Polish mother, Chopin moved to Paris in 1831 and lived there for the rest of his life.
Well-known as an exceptional pianist from a very early age, he quickly built up a reputation in the French capital. He frequented the circle of Polish exiles who had fled Russian repression and also took part in the flourishing musical life of the time, became a fixture at the Romantic salons and made friends with George Sand, Delacroix, Liszt, Mendelssohn and Berlioz. Chopin was especially famous for his Polonaises, Mazurkas, Nocturnes and Preludes, and preferred the intimacy of the salons to the limelight of the grand public concert halls. In October 1849 he died of tuberculosis at his home on Place Vendôme.
