Chopin at Place d'Orleans, Ballade No 4

 
While living in Paris, Frédéric Chopin had nine different addresses. In 1842, upon returning from a brief stay in Nohant – the summer residence of his partner, George Sand – he and the novelist decided to leave Rue Pigalle, where they had lived since the previous year, and move to Place d'Orléans No. 9, where, in their style, they would live in different apartments or pavilions.

Little Athens
The decision was purely due to the desire for a change of scenery. Rue Pigalle had already bored them and they were seduced by the idea of living in a sort of "Fourierist" community (after the utopian socialist Fourier), where writers and artists could meet night after night.
Place d'Orléans meets these requirements. And indeed, the singer Pauline Viardot-Garcia and Alexandre Dumas, among others, populate this "little Athens".

In Sand's words, in little Athens:

"...we had only one large courtyard.... always clean, which we crossed to meet... sometimes at [a friend's] house, sometimes at mine, sometimes at Chopin's, when he was ready to play for us. We had decided to make a common pot and eat all together... Chopin rejoiced to have [there] a secluded salon where he could go to compose or dream. But he liked people and only took advantage of his sanctuary to give his lessons."

1838. A young George Sand,
pen name of Aurore Dupin 
(1804 - 1876)

Chopin certainly does not live there for free. The apartment costs him 625 francs, but he charges 20 francs an hour for lessons, giving up to five lessons a day. So he "gets by" without major difficulties.

1842, a productive year
And indeed, the composer only composes in Nohant. In that short summer of 1842 he wrote the Scherzo No. 4, the Ballade No. 4, the Polonaise in A-flat, the third Impromptu, and four mazurkas.
For a year, Chopin lives one of his most productive periods, which will last until 1847, when the relationship with his "partner" George Sand enters a regrettable misunderstanding that will lead to the definitive break.

Ballade No. 4 in F minor, op. 52
Before Chopin, the term "ballade" was applied exclusively to vocal pieces. So, the four ballades that Chopin wrote are the first instrumental ballades.
According to a contemporary scholar, anyone who tries to find the romantic or melodious or sweet Chopin in ballade No. 4 will look in vain. And he is right: the "intimacy" of the piece has made it difficult to access and less popular than the others. However, it turns out to be at the same time one of the most beautiful ballads, if we agree that we are not in the presence of a dreamy nocturne.

Composed in Nohant that summer and published in Paris the following year, it is dedicated to the Baroness de Rothschild, to whose daughter Chopin used to give lessons.

The rendition is by Kate Liu, a talented pianist born in Singapore.