A Wedding Gift

This year's Festival opens with one of the epic love stories of classical music, the wedding of Robert Schumann and Clara Wieck. On the eve of their long-awaited and near-thwarted marriage, Robert presented Clara with the newly and lavishly printed Myrthen (‘Myrtles’ – sprigs of which were commonly part of bridal decorations), a cycle of 26 songs that was both a very public declaration of their union and an intimate expression of love. Three stellar artists perform this extraordinary cycle, taking us from the famously exuberant opening ‘Widmung’ (‘Dedication’) to the tender final song, ‘Zum Schluss’ (‘In the end’).