IDAGIO | Schumann: Carnaval - Fantasiestücke 4260036251920

Featuring

Lilian Akopova
Robert Schumann
Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy
Franz Liszt

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Compositional Technique

The programmatic titles for Robert Schumann's Fantasiestücke, Op. 12, which refer to poems or novellas, were added only after the compositions were completed.

Performer Biography

Lilian Akopova, the pianist on this album, is a First Prize Winner of the Vianna Da Motta International Piano Competition 2010 and has been praised for her 'impressive virtuoso and pianistic capabilities' by Anne-Sophie Mutter.

Composition History

Robert Schumann's Fantasiestücke, Op. 12, were composed during a sad period in his life in 1837, when Clara Wieck's father had forbidden all contact between them.

Compositional Technique

Robert Schumann's Carnaval, Op. 9, is based on a subtle game revolving around four notes, transforming the letters of the Bohemian hamlet ASCH into a musical anagram.

Composer Biography

Franz Liszt, who arranged Robert Schumann's 'Widmung' for piano, recognized the unique artistic partnership of Robert and Clara Schumann, stating that art history would not separate their names.

Composition History

Although initially engaged to Ernestine von Fricken, Robert Schumann secretly dedicated Carnaval to the then 15-year-old Clara Wieck, whom he envisioned as the guiding star of his life.

Composer's Artistic Vision

In Carnaval, Robert Schumann portrays figures and feelings from his fantasy and reality, including commedia dell'arte characters, friends, and even two aspects of his own self: Eusebius and Florestan.