Piano & Co: Busoni Prize Winners' Concert 2027

Ludwig van Beethoven’s Sonata in E-flat Major, Op. 27 No. 1—the neglected sister, so to speak, of the “Moonlight” Sonata from around 1800—is a fascinatingly multifaceted attacca fantasy brimming with caustic wit and innovative power. Afterward, we immerse ourselves in the poetic piano world of Robert Schumann. In the years around 1835, he created a wealth of piano works in a veritable creative frenzy. “My music now seems so wonderfully intricate to me, despite all its simplicity, so eloquent and coming straight from the heart,” he wrote to Clara Wieck. The Kreisleriana cycle, based on motifs by E.T.A. Hoffmann, ranks among the key works of German Romanticism with its constant balancing act between romantic melody, balladic drama, and dance-like gestures. The concert concludes with the magnificent piano sonata that Schumann presented to his future wife Clara in 1835. The title of the first edition reads: “Pianoforte Sonata, dedicated to Clara by Florestan and Eusebius.” These were Schumann’s two souls, borrowed from Jean Paul—the tempestuous Florestan and the lyrically dreamy Eusebius represent the contrasts of the piece.