Musical Partnerships: A Celebration of Clara Schumann, Johannes Brahms, Amanda Maier, and Marie Soldat
This program celebrates the close-knit friendships and musical partnerships among Clara Schumann (1819-1896), Johannes Brahms (1833-1897), Amanda Maier (1853-1894), and Marie Soldat (1863-1955). Brahms performed his own Violin Sonata No. 3 in D minor with both Marie Soldat and Amanda Maier, and made numerous revisions to the score based on Maier’s advice. Clara Schumann was a close musical collaborator and lifelong friend of Brahms. The violin on which Pine performs, the “ex-Bazzini ex-Soldat” 1742 Guarneri del Gesu, was chosen by Brahms for Soldat, his protégé and one of the greatest violinists of her day. Beyond her instrument, this music is very close to Pine’s heart because her teacher in Berlin, Werner Scholz, was a student of a student of Joseph Joachim, Brahms’s best friend and collaborator and the teacher of Soldat.
Concert Program
Brahms: Violin Sonata No. 1 in G major, Op. 78
Amanda Maier: Violin Sonata in B minor
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Clara Schumann: The Three Romances, Op. 22
Brahms: Violin Sonata No. 3 in D minor, Op. 108
Those two sonatas, Brahms’s Lullaby (a wonderful vehicle for the Guarneri’s velvety depths) and Clara Schumann’s Three Romances all had their pleasures, but the greatest treat was the 1878 Violin Sonata in B minor by Brahms’s and the Schumanns’ mutual friend, violinist–composer Amanda Maier. Long before Pine’s and Hagle’s flair-filled final Allegro molto vivace I was wondering why we don’t hear it more. This was down to their strong conversational interplay, the sophisticatedly rendered passion they brought to its fiery moments and their delicacy in its softer ones.
Contact Us
We invite you to contact us now about finding a date to bring An Evening with Clara, Marie, Amanda, and Johannes to your series in the 2024/25 season.