German Romantics: Part II

Performed by superlative pianist David Fray, Schumann’s evergreen Piano Concerto was premièred by the composer’s wife, Clara, on New Year’s Day 1846. A lifelong friend of Robert and Clara Schumann, Brahms wrote his Third Symphony during a summer spent holidaying on the Rhine. Playing through her two-piano version, Clara wrote to Brahms: ‘All the movements seem to be of one piece, one beat of the heart.’