Sunday 01 July 2012 7:00 pm
Geliebte Clara
Robert and Clara Schumann: Songs from “Myrthen” and “Liebesfrühling”
Robert Schumann: Adagio and Allegro for cello and piano, op. 70
Clara Schumann: Piano trio in g minor, op. 17
Brahms: Songs from opus 33 and on texts by Felix Schumann
Brahms: German Folksongs
Brahms: Piano trio in B major, op. 8
Texts from the Schumann household account book and family diary as well as from Clara Schumann’s own personal diaries and correspondence between Brahms and Clara
Thomas E. Bauer, baritone
Eszter Haffner, violin
Julian Steckel, violoncello
Alexander Schimpf, piano
Mavie Hörbiger, as Clara Schumann
Michael Maertens, as Robert Schumann
No artist couple of the Romantic age had to fight so desperately to achieve and defend their marital bliss than the Schumanns. They fought Clara’s father who slandered the “licentious” student to keep him from taking away his daughter. They fought against Robert’s manic enthusiasm, alcohol and depression, and against traditional gender roles which would have relegated Clara to the position of homemaker while Robert composed. They struggled against the little injuries and greater disappointments of everyday life and at the end they even battled the radiant youth of Johannes Brahms, who possessed everything Robert could only dream of. Their lives were soap opera-worthy and have in fact even been immortalized on film.
For styriarte 2012, the actors couple Mavie Hörbiger and Michael Maertens will slip into the roles of Robert and Clara, reading letters and entries from the diary the two shared. Martina Janková and Thomas Bauer bring the two lovers to life singing songs written by both. Brahms, too, makes an appearance in musical form, performed by Eszter Haffner and her award-winning colleagues Julian Steckel and Alexander Schimpf.
This concert will be broadcast on Ö1 on July 06, 07:30 pm
