Clara Schumann’s piano concerto is the only work with orchestra that has survived by the composer. She was already working on the final movement at the age of 14, and Robert Schumann helped her with the orchestration. She herself premiered the concerto at the age of 16 with Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy conducting in the Leipzig Gewandhaus. Contemporaries describe the young Clara as rather reserved, but this concerto testifies to astonishing self-confidence and artistic expressiveness. The Leipzig Clara Schumann anniversary offered the unique opportunity to record the concerto with a prominent cast of the sound body that once premiered the work. The Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra under the direction of Kapellmeister Andris Nelsons dedicated a “Grand Concert” to the composer on the occasion of her 200th birthday, in which Clara’s piano concerto and Robert’s “Spring Symphony” were performed. The technically demanding piano part was taken on by the young pianist Lauma Skride. Participants Lauma Skride, piano Gewandhausorchester Andris Nelsons, conductor
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