Schumann: Complete Symphonic Works, Vol. IV

Featuring

Heinz Holliger
Patricia Kopatchinskaja
Dénes Várjon
WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln
Robert Schumann

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Composition History

Schumann's Piano Concerto, Op. 54, was initially conceived as a one-movement Fantasy and only later extended into a three-movement concerto after struggles to find a publisher.

Performer Biography

Violinist Patricia Kopatchinskaja performs a diverse repertoire, ranging from baroque and classical music often played on gut strings, to new commissions and re-interpretations of modern masterworks.

Compositional Technique

The first four notes of Schumann's Piano Concerto, C-B-A-A, act as a motto representing 'Chiara' (Clara Wieck), Schumann's poetic name for his wife.

Historical Context

The Violin Concerto had a difficult history, with its 1937 premiere orchestrated by the Nazis as a political demonstration, presenting it as an 'Aryan' alternative to Mendelssohn's concerto.

Composition History

Schumann composed his Violin Concerto in 1853, inspired by the virtuoso violinist Joseph Joachim, who later became a close family friend.

Critical Reception

Joseph Joachim, the violinist for whom Schumann wrote his Violin Concerto, later refused to perform it, stating it showed a 'certain jadedness of his mental powers'.

Performer Biography

Dénes Várjon, the pianist on this recording, won First Prize at the Géza Anda Competition in Zurich in 1991 and is a professor at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest.