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 remarked, "Pity the lad has not a better tournure." However, the affair did not pass off altogether without unpleasant incidents:—
The members of the orchestra [Chopin writes to his friend
Titus Woyciechowski] showed me sour faces at the rehearsal;
what vexed them most was that I wished to make my debut with
a new composition. I began with the Variations which are
dedicated to you; they were to be followed by the Rondo
Krakowiak. We got through the Variations well, the Rondo, on
the other hand, went so badly that we had to begin twice from
the beginning; the cause of this was said to be the bad
writing. I ought to have placed the figures above and not
below the rests (that being the way to which the Viennese
musicians are accustomed). Enough, these gentlemen made such
faces that I already felt inclined to send word in the
evening that I was ill. Demar, the manager, noticed the bad
disposition of the members of the orchestra, who also don't
like Wurfel. The latter wished to conduct himself, but the
orchestra refused (I don't know for what reason) to play
under his direction. Mr. Demar advised me to improvise, at
which proposal the orchestra looked surprised. I was so
irritated by what had happened that in my desperation I
agreed to it; and who knows if my bad humour and strange mood
were not the causes of the great success which my playing
obtained.
Although Chopin passes off lightly the grumbling and grimacing of the members of the orchestra respecting the bad writing of his music, they seem to have had more serious reasons for complaint than he alleges in the above quotation. Indeed, he relates himself that after the occurrence his countryman Nidecki, who was very friendly to him and rejoiced at his success, looked over the orchestral parts of the Rondo and corrected them. The correction of MSS. was at no time of his life a strong point of Chopin's. That the orchestra was not hostile to him appears from another allusion of his to this affair:—
The orchestra cursed my badly-written music, and was not at
all favourably inclined towards me until I began the
improvisation; but then it joined in the applause of the
public. From this I saw that it had a good opinion of me.
Whether the other artists had so too I did not know as yet;
but why should they be against me? They must see that I do
not play for the sake of material advantages.
After such a success nothing was more natural than that Chopin should allow himself to be easily persuaded to play again—il n'y a que le premier pas qui coute—but he said he would not play a third time. Accordingly, on August 18, he appeared once more on the stage of the Karnthnerthor Theatre. Also this time he received no payment, but played to oblige Count Gallenberg, who, indeed, was in anything but flourishing circumstances. On this occasion Chopin succeeded in producing the Krakowiak, and repeated, by desire of the ladies, the Variations. Two other items of the programme were Lindpaintner's Overture to Der Bergkonig and a polonaise of Mayseder's played by the violinist Joseph Khayl, a very young pupil of Jansa's.
The rendering of the Rondo especially [Chopin writes] gave me
pleasure, because Gyrowetz, Lachner, and other masters, nay,
even the orchestra, were so charmed—excuse the expression—
that they called me back twice.
In another letter he is more loquacious on the subject:—
If the public received me kindly on my first appearance, it
was yesterday still more hearty. When I appeared on the stage
I was greeted with a twice-repeated, long-sustained "Bravo!"
The public had gathered in greater numbers than at the first
concert. The financier of the theatre, Baron—I do not
remember his name—thanked me for the recette and said that
if the attendance was great, it was not on account of the
ballet, which had already been often performed. With my Rondo
I have won the good opinion of all professional musicians—
from Capellmeister Lachner to the pianoforte-tuner, all
praise my composition.