Carnaval takes us on a journey through Robert Schumann’s life: from his passionate early piano pieces, inspired by youthful feelings of ardour, to his haunting final piano work, composed when his mind was in turmoil.
Award-winning pianist Juan Carlos has long been a devotee of Schumann’s fascinating output, and has meticulously constructed this programme to reflect each era of the composer’s career. Carnaval was inspired not by Clara Wieck, who would become Schumann’s wife, but by an infatuation with Ernestine von Fricken. The work is a masked ball of colourful characters, brought to life by Schumann’s rich imagination: Chopin and Paganini make an appearance, alongside characters from the commedia dell’arte and Schumann’s own alter egos.
