The musicians of the Greek Youth Symphony Orchestra (GYSO) and actor Emilios Hilakis present selected chamber music works by Schumann and, at the same time, narrate the great romantic composer’s life and ideas. The compositions to be performed include Kreisleriana for piano, songs from the song cycle Dichterliebe (“A Poet’s Love”), the Quartet for strings, the Fairy-tale pictures for viola and piano, and the Five pieces in folk style for cello and piano. The introvert, reflective Eusebius and the fiery, passionate Florestan are two imaginary characters representing the two different sides of Schumann’s personality. Like the two-faced Janus, they appear time and again in the composer’s thoughts, writings and music, as two forces that, although colliding, never cease to remain engaged in dialogue, in a perpetual process of uniting the yin and the yang, the Apollonian and the Dionysian.
Co-produced by:
Greek Youth Symphony Orchestra
Megaron the Athens Concert Hall