Vesselin Stanev, Klavier

‘The piece is eerie,’ Clara Schumann noted in her diary; ‘it is dominated by blind noise, and not a single coherent thought can be discerned.’ It was mid-May 1854. A parcel had been delivered to the door, containing new compositions by Franz Liszt, at the top of which was the Piano Sonata in B minor, now dearly loved by pianists and listeners alike. By chance, Johannes Brahms was visiting the Schumanns at the time; at her request, he played the sonata for Clara – sight-reading, it should be noted. Liszt had inscribed it with a friendly dedication to Robert Schumann, who was then languishing in a psychiatric clinic following a suicide attempt. Musically, Liszt may have been on another planet – he belonged to the circle of modernists around his son-in-law Richard Wagner – yet he felt closely connected to Schumann, which is why he sent him this token of support during his difficult time. He finds his motivation in a dedication in the opposite direction: Schumann had dedicated his Grand Fantasy in C major to Liszt in 1838 as a mark of respect. The interplay of these dedications was anything but a coincidence. Like Liszt, who plays with the ‘Dies irae’ motif and its equally secular and religious associations in the B minor Sonata, Schumann sought to draw poetic, expressive qualities from the music – including in the C major Fantasy, whose movements bore titles in an early version. Schumann (with Clara) and Liszt, kindred spirits and opponents at the same time. 

And in between them, the youngest of the group, Johannes Brahms, a close friend of the Schumanns. Brahms had no time for the idea that music should be representational; he believed that the art of sound had no content, being nothing but sound itself – that was the view in Vienna, where Brahms lived and where there was no place for Wagner’s ideas. The Capricci and Intermezzi from Brahms’ Piano Pieces, Op. 76, therefore play with old forms, which the composer has clothed in new tones. Beyond the bonds of friendship, music, as this evening demonstrates, can reveal very different facets.
(Les Concerts Du Lac)