CLARA SCHUMANN Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 7

Born in Leipzig in 1819, Clara Schumann, as she later became, was the first surviving child of Friedrich Wieck, a music-teacher who has perhaps suffered unduly through his opposition to her marriage to his former pupil, Robert Schumann. She wrote the first sketch of her Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 7, her only extant orchestral composition, at the age of fourteen, in 1833, planning at first a singlemovement work. This she completed in November, leaving the orchestration to Schumann, which he duly finished in February 1834. This movement was to form the finale of what was to become a three-movement concerto, and formed part of her own concert repertoire. She tackled the first movement in the summer of 1834 and a year later was preparing the work for publication, having orchestrated it and written out the parts herself. The concerto was performed at the Gewandhaus in November 1835, with the composer as soloist, conducted by Mendelssohn. Further revision of the work was followed by publication of the piano part, with the orchestral parts as a supplement, in January 1837, with a dedication to Louis Spohr. NAXOS VIDEO: Clara Schumann - Piano Concerto a-minor, op.7, Oana Crisu Piano/Walter Hilgers Conductor