Chopin at the Opera

Although he had enormous talent that could easily have propelled him to pen a libretto, and by all accounts worshipped the operatic medium, Frédéric Chopin (1810-49) never worked within that form. The composer was certainly surrounded by it, however, as an ardent fan of bel canto singer Giuditta Pasta, a close friend of Vincenzo Bellini, and a lover of arranger Pauline Viardot . This unusual documentary finds a trio of singers, an actress and a classical pianist gathering at the castle of Chopin's paramour, George Sand, in Nohat, France, to discuss Chopin's experiences with opera and feelings toward it.