Bamff 2022

On 17 October 2022, the intimate surroundings of Bamff House in Scotland became the backdrop for a musical time travel experience. Pianist Anna Dębowska and Norwegian tenor Edvard Adde joined forces to recreate one of the most intriguing moments in Frédéric Chopin’s British career – his Matinée Musicale in London.

The original concert took place on 23 June 1848 at 99 Eaton Place, London, in the elegant residence of Mrs Adelaide Sartoris. Known to Chopin from Parisian musical circles, Sartoris was herself a distinguished soprano and the wife of Edward John Sartoris, a wealthy man of fashion with political ambitions and hopes of entering Parliament. Her London home became a refined artistic salon, and it was there that Chopin offered one of his rare performances in Britain.

That matinee – starting at 3 p.m., with a limited number of tickets priced at one guinea each – was not only exclusive but also historically significant: it was one of the very few concerts Chopin gave in London and his first public performance in Britain.

By restaging this programme at Bamff House, Anna Dębowska and Edvard Adde did more than present a recital – they revived the atmosphere of a 19th-century salon, where music, conversation and society intertwined. The piano and tenor partnership echoed the blend of instrumental and vocal music that would have charmed London audiences in 1848, while allowing today’s listeners to experience Chopin’s world in a fresh, vivid way.

In the quiet Scottish countryside, far from Eaton Place yet closely linked to its musical memory, the Bamff House concert paid tribute to Chopin’s artistry, his London debut, and the cultural networks that supported him – from Parisian salons to British drawing rooms – now lovingly reimagined for a modern audience.

PROGRAMME
F. Chopin – Andante op. 22 precedé d’un Largo
L. van Beethoven – „Le penitent”
F. Chopin – Andante sostenuto, Etudes op. 25 nr 1, 2
G. Alary – Melodie „Reine des Nuits”
F. Chopin – Nocturne, Berceuse, Impromptu
G. Donizetti – Romance, „Ange si pur”
F. Chopin – Mazurka, Ballade, Valse