stamaty did become a civil servant but he did not give up on music altogether. in his spare time he kept practicing and composing and his playing must have been so good that he could perform at soirees in fashionable parisian homes. this was no mean achievement as paris was considered to be the city of pianists and stamaty had ample competition in fashionable salons from luminaries such as sigismond thalberg, franz liszt, stephen heller, henri herz, émile prudent and scores of lesser known piano players.