From December 1837 to April 1838, at the age of 18, Wieck performed a series of recitals in Vienna. Franz Grillparzer, Austria's leading dramatic poet, wrote a poem entitled "Clara Wieck and Beethoven" after hearing her perform Beethoven's "Appassionata" sonata during one of these recitals. She performed to sell-out crowds and laudatory critical reviews; Benedict Randhartinger, a friend of Franz Schubert, gave her an autographed copy of Schubert's "Erlkönig", inscribing it "To the celebrated artist, Clara Wieck." Chopin described her playing to Franz Liszt, who came to hear one of Wieck's concerts and subsequently praised her extravagantly in a letter that was published in the Parisian "Revue et Gazette Musicale" and later, in translation, in the Leipzig journal "Neue Zeitschrift für Musik". On 15 March, she was named a "Königliche und Kaiserliche Österreichische Kammer-virtuosin" ("Royal and Imperial Austrian Chamber Virtuoso"), Austria's highest musical honor.