Saturday 25th May 2019, Sheldonian Theatre
Conducted by Cayenna Ponchione-Bailey
Featuring Carson Becke (Piano)
Led by Violetta Suvini
Brahms Symphony No.4
Clara Schumann Piano Concerto
Robert Schumann Manfred Overture
Clara Schumann (neé Wieck) (1819-1896) was a musical force of nature and a child prodigy. At the age of 13 (1832) she began composing her first piano concerto, which, rather than being derivative like many pieces of juvenilia, is a unique and bold artistic statement. The three-movement concerto took its final form by 1834 and was premiered at the Leipzig Gewandhaus in 1835 with herself at the piano and Felix Mendelssohn conducting. Despite the excellent quality of the work and her international reputation as a performer, like many works written by female composers in the 19th century, it has seldom been performed after her death. In her bicentennial year, the Oxford University Orchestra undertook a rare performance of this concerto under the direction of conductor Cayenna Ponchione-Bailey with pianist Carson Becke. As part of the rehearsal process, Clara Schumann scholars, Dr Joe Davies and Professor Susan Wollenberg, led a public performers’ workshop, bringing to life the musical world in which Clara Wieck created this wonderful work and giving a tour of the concerto’s compositional structure with live examples performed by Carson Becke and OUO.
