Work: Nuages gris (Grey Clouds), S 199

David Le Page's The Interpretation of Dreams did not, sadly, live up to the trailer. 

By using Schumann’s Novelletten to draw a broad dramaturgical bow over the whole evening, Martin Helmchen stands on his own as a bold and highly creative pianist.

In around 1822, an eleven-year-old Franz Liszt performed for Beethoven. It’s claimed that Beethoven gave him his blessing and kissed him on the forehead. A lifetime later, in 1885, Liszt wrote La lugubre gondola, a harsh, drastically dissonant piano piece commemorating the death of Wagner.It’s easy to forget how short the nineteenth century was.