atre on August 11, 1829. The programme comprised the following items:
Beethoven's Overture to Prometheus; arias of Rossini's and Vaccaj's,
sung by Mdlle. Veltheim, singer to the Saxon Court; Chopin's variations
on La ci darem la mano and Krakowiak, rondeau de concert (both for
pianoforte and orchestra), for the latter of which the composer
substituted an improvisation; and a short ballet. Chopin, in a letter to
his people dated August 12, 1829, describes the proceedings thus:--

Yesterday--i.e., Tuesday, at 7 p.m., I made my debut in the
Imperial Opera-house before the public of Vienna. These
evening concerts in the theatre are called here "musical
academies." As I claimed no honorarium, Count Gallenberg
hastened on my appearance.

In a letter to Titus Woyciechowski, dated September 12, 1829, he says:--

The sight of the Viennese public did not at all excite me,
and I sat down, pale as I was, at a wonderful instrument of
Graff's, at the time perhaps the best in Vienna. Beside me I
had a painted young man, who turned the leaves for me in the
Variations, and who prided himself on having rendered the
same service to Moscheles, Hummel, and Herz. Believe me when
I say that I played in a desperate mood; nevertheless, the
Variations produced so much effect that I was called back
several times. Mdlle. Veltheim sang very beautifully. Of my
improvisation I know only that it was followed by stormy
applause and many recalls.

To the cause of the paleness and the desperate mood I shall advert anon.
Chopin was satisfied, nay, delighted with his success; he had a friendly
greeting of "Bravo!" on entering, and this "pleasant word" the audience
repeated after each Variation so impetuously that he could not hear
the tuttis of the orchestra. At the end of the piece he was called back
twice. The improvisation on a theme from La Dame blanche and the Polish
tune Chmiel, which he substituted for the Krakowiak, although it did
not satisfy himself, pleased, or as Chopin has it, "electrified"
the audience. Count Gallenberg commended his compositions, and Count
Dietrichstein, who was much with the Emperor, came to him on the stage,
conversed with him a long time in French, complimented him on his
performance, and asked him to prolong his stay in Vienna. The only
adverse criticism which his friends, who had posted themselves in
different parts of the theatre, heard, was that of a lady who remarke