By 1838 Chopin had been settled in Paris for seven years and was already a celebrity among the Parisian aristocracy and the exiled Polish nobility. On February 25 of that year, he was invited to play at the Tuileries Palace for the delight of King Louis-Philippe and his court. Frédéric did not attend very willingly, as the king was not his devotee, but Louis-Philippe was delighted with the evening and repaid Chopin's effort with a personal gift. Three weeks later he appeared twice before a large audience, in Rouen and Paris. In Rouen, the performance of his Concerto in E minor earned him a laudatory commentary in the Gazette Musicale, which ends with the following words:
"... And if from now on it is still asked who is the greatest pianist in the world, greater than Thalberg and Liszt, those who heard you will answer to the whole world: Chopin!"
The year 1838 is the year of Chopin's departure for Majorca, the ill-fated trip he made with George Sand and her children, in October of that year. But before embarking on the voyage he would send for publication the four mazurkas of opus 33 and the three waltzes of opus 34. By that stage of his life, at the age of 28, Chopin had written, but not published, eight of his fourteen waltzes.
The Opus 34
The waltzes of opus 34, released by their publisher as Three Brilliant Waltzes, moved Robert Schumann to refer to them as "waltzes for souls, rather than for bodies", which today may seem a truism since Chopin's waltzes were never written to be danced, this being said with the utmost respect for the good-natured Schumann.
Waltz No. 3 in F major
Opus 34 is made up of the Brilliant Waltz No. 1 in A flat major (the only "brilliant" one in our opinion), Waltz No. 2 in A minor (Chopin's favorite according to connoisseurs, and which the film The Pianist featured on its soundtrack), and the one presented here, Waltz No. 3 in F major, just over two minutes long, and nicknamed by some, somewhat syrupily, as the waltz "of the cat" because of the notes of the opening passage that could well illustrate the tricks that such a pet usually does for the amusement of his master.
Opus 34 is made up of the Brilliant Waltz No. 1 in A flat major (the only "brilliant" one in our opinion), Waltz No. 2 in A minor (Chopin's favorite according to connoisseurs, and which the film The Pianist featured on its soundtrack), and the one presented here, Waltz No. 3 in F major, just over two minutes long, and nicknamed by some, somewhat syrupily, as the waltz "of the cat" because of the notes of the opening passage that could well illustrate the tricks that such a pet usually does for the amusement of his master.
The outstanding performance is by the Korean pianist Seong Jin Cho.
