Brave and romantic

PhilHERmonic is a concert series where women are not only the subject but also the driving force behind it. This time, three works meet on stage-one written by a woman and two by men, yet all connected to women: as composers, performers, or sources of inspiration.

We begin with something still too rare in the repertoire-Clara Schumann’s Piano Concerto in A minor. She began writing it at the age of 14 and completed it two years later. While most of her peers were perhaps learning how to waltz, Clara composed a complete three-part concerto with orchestra, which she then performed herself, accompanied by conductor Felix Mendelssohn.

Clara wasn’t just an exceptional pianist with a 60-year-long concert career-she was also the wife of Robert Schumann and the mother of eight children. Despite everything, she continued to compose, perform, and teach. She survived her husband’s mental illness and death, as well as 19th-century beliefs that women should be no more than a pretty presence in the parlor.

Liszt, unlike Clara, was a 19th-century rockstar before the term even existed. He wrote, performed, seduced, and had audiences swooning at his recitals. But this concerto was written in a more introspective phase of his life-possibly inspired by writer Marie d’Agoult, with whom Liszt had three children (including Cosima, who later married Wagner).

The A major concerto took a long time to complete-drafted in 1839 and finalized in 1849. It departs from traditional form, unfolding like a story without chapters, each movement flowing into the next. It’s filled with romantic lyricism, dramatic tutti passages, and moments that evoke the sound of improvisation. Liszt was also one of the first to take female pianists seriously, as he taught many women. He encouraged them to perform publicly, not just “play for dinner guests.”

Liszt's Piano Concerto No. 2, performed by Francesco Piemontesi (piano) and the hr-Sinfonieorchester, conducted by Marek Janowski:

Between the “heroic” Third and the “fateful” Fifth, Beethoven composed his Fourth Symphony-seemingly cheerful, but full of peculiarities. Berlioz described it as a slender Greek maiden between two Nordic giants. There may be something to that.

What’s the connection to women? At the time, Beethoven was frequently corresponding with the von Brunsvik family, especially Josephine, a talented pianist. Some researchers believe she was the recipient of his famous letter to the “Immortal Beloved.” When Beethoven composed the Fourth Symphony, their contact was intense, though complicated-she was a widow with four children, and Beethoven... well, he wasn’t exactly stepfather material.

For a long time, Symphony No. 4 was seen as less important-even Schumann and Wagner preferred others. Today, it’s recognized as a masterpiece of form and elegance-perhaps because Beethoven allowed himself more lightness and grace. Or maybe because he was in love.

There’s no need to turn this into a manifesto. The point is simple: women have always written, played, inspired, and led orchestras-though they weren’t always allowed to. Thankfully, today they can do so freely, especially here in our Philharmonic!

Beethoven's Symphony No. 4 performed by the Ochestre de Paris under the baton of Thomas Hengelbrock:

On the stage of the Golden Hall, two artists will meet who perfectly embody the idea of the FilHERmonia series. The solo parts in the concertos by Clara Schumann and Franz Liszt will be performed by Mariam Batsashvili – a Georgian pianist of extraordinary sensitivity and remarkable technique, winner of the International Franz Liszt Piano Competition in Utrecht, and a frequent guest on the world’s most prestigious stages. Leading the Szczecin Philharmonic Orchestra will be Anna Sułkowska-Migoń – one of the most exciting young Polish conductors, winner of the first prize at the prestigious La Maestra competition in Paris, and an artist who regularly collaborates with leading orchestras across Europe and North America.