Choreographer and stage designer Kristina Paulin (Germany), costume designer Stephanie Bäuerle (Austria), sound designer and composer Davidson Jaconello (Canada) worked on the creation of the ballet “December Rain”. The ballet features works by Frederic Chopin performed by pianist Margus Riimaa (Estonia).
The 19th century was the century of beautiful music, literary reception rooms and sophisticated salons. It was also a time of great literature, music, painting and culture. It was a time when charming ladies captured the hearts of brave men. But this is not a story about George Sand and Frederic Chopin. It is the opposite – the extravagant and flamboyant Frenchwoman George Sand and the gentle, refined Polish virtuoso musician and composer Frederic Chopin. The determined Sand immediately paid attention to him and eventually won his heart. Their romance lasted about 10 years, the relationship was wild and brought them more suffering than joy and happiness.
This amazing love story, which astonished their contemporaries because they were so different, did not end happily; but without George Sand, there would be no soul-piercing masterpieces by Frederic Chopin. He wrote most of his best works precisely at the time when he was with George Sand. Even the simple piano piece “Minute Waltz”, which is usually mastered by novice pianists, was composed by Chopin at the request of his beloved. Perhaps that is why the love between George Sand and Frederic Chopin is still remembered almost two hundred years later. The fatal role of the wayward Sand in Chopin’s life is still debated, and the reason for their separation is still being discovered. The creators of the ballet “December Rain” offer their own view of this beautiful and tragic story.