The two minutes and 49 seconds waltz

The young woman in the picture is the Polish countess Delfina Potocka, at the age of 23. Five years before she had married Count Potocki, thus acquiring both the surname and the title.
But Delfina was unhappy in her marriage, and she divorced the count in 1830. Afterwards, she began her traveling.

Chopin: A necessary Interlude

It is said that the first meeting Chopin had with the novelist George Sand went like this:
-What a repulsive woman Sand is! -Chopin said to a friend. -I'm inclined to doubt it.
Almost simultaneously, on the other side of the room, Sand whispered to a friend:
-That Monsieur Chopin, is he a girl?

Maria Wodzinska and Chopin's Nocturne in E flat

Chopin's portrait painted by Maria Wodzinska

Frédéric Chopin knew the Wodzinsky family since childhood, and in the summer of 1835 he was invited to Dresden to spend a short time with them There he met Maria again, the youngest daughter. He remembered her as a child who used to annoy the grown-ups by pulling faces at them or rowdily running around. Now, she was a beautiful girl of sixteen who liked painting and played the piano. Frédéric, who had already turned twenty-five, reciprocated the hospitality by giving piano lessons to Maria every afternoon.
The maestro asked the young girl to have her music book at hand on the piano, in order to write down any musical ideas that would arise at any time.