and a connoisseur of singing. He advised young pianists to listen
carefully and often to great singers. Mdlle. de Belleville the
pianist and Lipinski the violinist were admired, and he could
write a sound criticism when he chose. But the Gladowska is
worrying him. "Unbearable longing" is driving him to exile. He
attends her debut as Agnese in Paer's opera of that title and
writes a complete description of the important function to Titus,
who is at his country seat where Chopin visits him betimes.
Agitated, he thinks of going to Berlin or Vienna, but after much
philandering remains in Warsaw. On October 11, 1830, following
many preparations and much emotional shilly-shallying, Chopin
gave his third and last Warsaw concert. He played the E minor
concerto for the first time in public but not in sequence. The
first and last two movements were separated by an aria, such
being the custom of those days. Later he gave the Fantasia on
Polish airs. Best of all for him, Miss Gladowska sang a Rossini
air, "wore a white dress and roses in her hair, and was
charmingly beautiful." Thus Chopin; and the details have all the
relevancy of a male besieged by Dan Cupid. Chopin must have
played well. He said so himself, and he was always a cautious
self-critic despite his pride. His vanity and girlishness peep
out in his recital by the response to a quartet of recalls: "I
believe I did it yesterday with a certain grace, for Brandt had
taught me how to do it properly." He is not speaking of his
poetic performance, but of his bow to the public. As he formerly
spoke to his mother of his pretty collar, so as young man he
makes much of his deportment. But it is all quite in the role;
scratch an artist and you surprise a child.

Of course, Constantia sang wonderfully. "Her low B came out so