Robert Schumann, Piano Concerto

On September 12, 1840, thanks to their loyalty and determination, the epic of Robert and Clara Schumann, the lovers, ended happily. That day, they were married at the small church of Schönefeld, near Leipzig. Out of sheer joy, the following year Robert wrote two symphonies, the marriage's first daughter was born, and the composer wrote the outlines for what will later become his Piano Concerto in A minor.

Clara on tour
Despite the fact that his catalog of musical compositions kept growing day by day, Robert Schumann still did not obtain recognition from the general public. For her part, Clara did not stop working offering recitals throughout Europe, occasions when, by the way, she would make known her husband's works.

Robert Schumann
(1810 - 1856)

In 1842, Robert decided to accompany Clara to a recital in Weimar, where the famous pianist idolized by the public had been invited. It was the first time that Clara's husband had to answer a question that should not be asked.

"And you, are you also a musician?
The question, made more out of courtesy than — for the worse — out of genuine concern, became habitual and began to make Robert uncomfortable. So when, a little later, Copenhagen called for Clara's presence for a two-month tour of Denmark, Robert preferred to stay at home and Clara set out on the journey by herself.

Upon return, they continued to be the happy couple they will be their entire life.

Clara Schumann
(1819 - 1896)

Piano Concerto in A minor
In 1845 Robert Schumann took up the 1841 sketches, originally a one-movement fantasy for piano and orchestra, and saw that they were good. He added two movements to the fantasy project and thus built his first and only piano concerto, premiered, unsurprisingly, by the brilliant Clara on January 1, 1846, in Leipzig.

The rendition is by the wonderful Georgian pianist Khatia Buniatishvili, accompanied by the Radio Frankfurt Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Paavo Järvi, in a performing given in the German town of Wiesbaden, August 2012. At the end, Khatia gives us as an encore, Liszt's Love Dream No. 3.

Below, a listening guide:

The concert lasts about 30 minutes and is in three movements. Schumann, as Mendelssohn, tended to connect the movements of some of his works together. In this case, the second movement links to the third without interruption. The solo piano interventions are difficult and elaborate but, as usual in Schumann, they never become orphan exhibitions of musical sense or passages of pure brilliance.

Movements:
Allegro affettuoso. The piano comes into action simultaneously with the orchestra, introducing the first theme, which is then repeated by the piano solo, allowing us to perceive the intense Chopinian aroma of the motif. A second theme includes beautiful passages for the solo piano, interrupted by beautiful clarinet passages. At the end, after a furious passage of chords at high speed, Khatia attacks the opening theme with her left hand while over it she plays a long trill with her right, which leads to a final coda that brilliantly closes the movement.

Intermezzo - andantino grazioso (15:45) The Chopin world returns, represented by a beautiful phrasing of the piano, accompanied by a serene orchestral background. Afterwards, the cellos pick up a variation of the melody and the piano adorns it with arpeggios. An allusion to the first theme of the first movement serves as a bridge to address the execution of the third, without pause.

Allegro vivace (20:55) Supported by two brilliant songs, syncopated, the piano covers almost restlessly a wide expanse of the keyboard. Before the end, Khatia repeats the subtlety of the prolonged trill. A coda based on the first theme will lead to a brilliant ending.

Verdi, Triumphal March from Aida

Shortly after the Jedive (a sort of governor) of Egypt, Ismail Pasha, asked Giuseppe Verdi to write an opera to be performed in Cairo in 1871, the project had to be abandoned because of the Franco-Prussian war. It was a pity since the Jedi had offered the great Italian master, almost sixty years old, the not negligible sum of 150,000 francs. Nor could he be offered less, since Giuseppe had long enjoyed international fame and celebrity, as well as financial independence, all of which sponsored the quiet enjoyment of his life on the Sant'Agata estate, where he had been living for twenty years in the company of his second woman, the soprano Giuseppina Strepponi.

Verdi gets excited
It had been two years since the Jedive Opera House had been opened with Rigoletto, so the governor considered it fair and necessary to insist on the proposal. As Verdi learned that the governor had also talked to Gounod and Wagner, he hastened to read the libretto based on a story by the French Egyptologist Auguste Mariette, which turned out to be to his complete liking, finally accepting the commission, in June 1870.

Premieres
The majestic opera Aida opened in Cairo on December 21, 1871, to an overwhelming success. Verdi did not attend the performance, but later he was delighted to learn that the audience had been filled with dignitaries, great personalities and critics but not ordinary audiences, as was the custom in his beloved Italy.

For this reason, Giuseppe would consider later that the true premiere of the work took place at La Scala in Milan, in February 1872. On that occasion, the role of Aída was entrusted to the soprano Teresa Stolz, Verdi's mature passion which, fortunately, mattered little thanks to the patience and dignified conduct of Giuseppina.

Aída, opera in 4 acts
In just over two and a half hours, the play tells the story of Aida, an Ethiopian princess captured and taken as a slave to Egypt. Radames, an Egyptian military man, would fall in love with her, who then must struggle between his love for Aida and his loyalty to the pharaoh, whose daughter, Amneris, to make matters worse, is crazy about Radames.

The most famous opera episode occurs in Act II, when the Egyptian people celebrate the victorious return of Radames after defeating the Ethiopians, singing the famous Triumphal March.

About 500 singers and 60 musicians are performing in the concert version presented here. It was recorded on the occasion of the 2010 International Choral Festival Gala, which is held every two years in the Swedish town of Lund.