Lettre adressée depuis Londres à Renée Chaine, compagne du pianiste Alfred Cortot : "Rien n'est encore décidé mais probablement nous irons bientôt au Portugal et plus tard à Paris"

Autograph letter signed by Lotte Zweig addressed to Renée Chaine, companion of pianist Alfred Cortot, one page written in black ink. Traces of folds.
As Europe goes to war, Lotte Zweig, newly married to the writer Stefan Zweig, gives news of their lives in the English countryside. It is for Renée Chaine, companion of a great friend of her husband, Alfred Cortot, renowned pianist and specialist in Chopin. The installation of the couple in a charming house in Bath, which reminds them of their old home in the Kapuzinerberg, made their exile softer: " It was a great pleasure for us to have this house which occupied us all these weeks, because because of that, we forgot the big events for whole days. "
The relationships between Stefan Zweig and Alfred Cortot are rarely mentioned by biographers - the correspondence between the Austrian and French couple, their numerous meetings across Europe, however, testify to the strong bond that united them. Zweig, who wanted to write a biography of the composer, had also declared: "When Cortot's hands no longer exist, Chopin will die a second time. He is the only one who can express tenderness in greatness." Cortot, for his part, also held Zweig in great esteem: "The days when we meet a Zweig are to be marked with a white stone in the lives of beings who have respect for ideas or curiosity of intelligence." "(Letter of October 13, 1937).
Definitely leaving Germany in 1934, Stefan Zweig moved to England with his new wife Lotte and soon left London for a quiet life in Bath: "Zweig's new existence, with a few details, seems to reproduce its identical Existence of yesteryear. If the site of Bath immediately seduced him, it is because it irresistibly reminds him of Salzburg and its surroundings. Likewise, the house with which he fell in love, Rosemount House (the mount des Roses), is located on a hill whose name (Lyncombe Hill) suggests that it is mistaken for that of Kapuzinerberg (Capuchin mountain or hill) [...] Beyond these toponymic and geographical similarities, the Bath's natural environment, its status as a cultural city, reveal its nostalgia for lost paradise "( Stefan Zweig - autopsy of a suicide, Dominique Frischer). Soon, however, he left with Lotte for Brazil, where they died in 1944.

"Dear friend,
It has been a very long time since we last heard from you, except for the pleasure we had in hearing Mr. Cortot on [sic] Radio. What a pity that you cannot come to see us. There is so much to say.
We have written to you, I believe we have decided to take up permanent residence in Bath. We have taken a charming house with a large garden, situated on one of the hills of Bath, and we hope to live there in a fortnight. It was a great happiness for us to have this house which occupied us all these weeks, because because of that we forgot for whole days the big events. In any case Stefan could not have worked for the past few weeks, but he hopes to be able to start again as soon as we are installed. You will soon have our card with the new address.
We are asked not to write long letters, just as you are asked to give us your news soon and to let me know how you are doing and whether you are still staying in Paris.
Please send our best thoughts to Mr. Cortot.
I embrace you in a friendly way
Monkfish Zweig "