Schumann and Orchestre de chambre de Paris

It’s very fitting that the works of Robert Schumann are considered some of the most seminal works of the Romantic era because the man’s life story reads like an old fashioned romance novel in and of itself. Drops out of law school to become a pianist, is told that he could become the greatest one in Europe but an injury forces him to focus on composing. He then falls for a Clara Wieck, a concert pianist whose father greatly disapproves of him and after a long and arduous legal battle they finally sticks it to her father and marry. It’s a wonderful story and a testament to Schumann’s compositional skills that he was able to translate the soaring highs and crushing lows of his life story almost entirely into his music, and every inch of that pathos comes out in its live performance. Whether it’s his celebrated piano duets, or his works for cello and piano or violin and orchestra, they’re all as lyrical, moving and, yes, romantic, as each other, but they all come out in different ways. Either in the quiet melodies of his smaller scale work or in the absolute mastery of dynamics in his orchestral work, stemming from pin-drop sensitivity to sky-scraper sized dramatics. This is the Romantic period at its best, and it could make a classical convert out of anyone at all. Highly recommended.