The unresolved and ambiguous details of Robert Schumann’s psychological decline and death have tended to dominate his biography. Yet in his time Schumann was lauded as a protean Romantic literary genius whose writings, as a music critic, poet, novelist and dramatist, eclipsed his musical creativity. How did Schumann reconcile these elements? Does his music suggest he suffered from bipolar disorder? How did his pianist wife, Clara, influence his compositions? The narration is illustrated with some of Schumann’s finest works including excerpts from the symphonies, his song cycle Dichterliebe, the piano works Papillon and Carnaval, and the Piano Concerto, among others.

Artists

Leighton Pugh (narrator), Boris Giltburg (piano), Evelyne Dubourg, Hans Jörg Mammel (tenor), Uta Hielscher, Thomas Selditz, Kotaro Fukuma, Jenö Jandó (piano), Thomas E. Bauer, Belgian Radio and Television Philharmonic Orchestra and Alexander Rahbari, Magdaléna Hajóssyová, Juan Carlos Rodríguez, Olivier Chauzu, Ilya Kaler, Trio Parnassus, Belgian Radio and Television Philharmonic Orchestra, MDR Sinfonieorchester, Budapest Symphony Orchestra, Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra, Radio-Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart des SWR, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, Alexander Rahbari, Wolf-Dieter Hauschild, András Ligeti, Johannes Wildner, Sir Neville Marriner, Pietari Inkinen