Hungarian Radio Symphony Orchestra

Schumann was one of the most enigmatic composers of the 19th century, and it would appear that nothing of this mystery has diminished in the century and a half since his death. Perhaps the secret of Schumann’s music lies precisely in this, and perhaps the inscrutability of the innermost core of his works goes to explain why, of all his contemporaries, he inspires composition of our day and, naturally, many dedicated performers, to the greatest degree. There is something inexhaustible, some elusive internal motional drive in the music of Schumann, and in its poetic mystery something irresistible. In his new series, Tamás Vásáry sets out to crack these codes. There is a performance of Schumann’s violin concerto (solo by Vilmos Oláh), about which both Clara, the composer’s wife, and the brilliantly talented violinist Joseph Joachim thought it best not to perform publicly because, they believed, it would not show the artist in a good light. It was almost lost but happily, 80 years after the death of Schumann, it was finally presented.