The celebrated critic A. Schindler thus wrote of my father in 1841... Three days after my arrival in Paris (in January of last year) I received an invitation to a musical soiree at Erard's. In the amiable note occurred the phrase : " You will meet many artists and literary celebrities, and will also find several fellowcountrymen." The assembly must have numbered over four hundred persons, more than half of them ladies, among whom I could not find a single good-looking one, perhaps in consequence of having been spoilt by the frequentation of German salons and concert-rooms. It was otherwise with the male portion of the party, many of whom were handsome, and had strikingly interesting faces, amongst them some tremendous beards, and heads of hair that flowed over their shoulders....My subsequent acquaintance with his [Sir Charles Halle] beautiful talent, which I often had the opportunity of admiring in the performance of great classical works, made me rank him at once among the most noteworthy artists of this great capital, among those who strive after a high ideal. << less