Category Archives: The Romantic Piano

Chopin, Paderewski and a Search for a Tree

Posted on December 30, 2018 by Christine Stevenson

The Chopin Museum in Poland is a pianist’s delight. It has two locations; one at his birthplace at Zelazowa Wola, which I didn’t visit, and the other at the Ostrogski Palace in Warsaw, where I spent several hours. There, one can gaze at letters … Continue reading →

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The Heart of the Matter – Chopin’s heart at the Church of the Holy Cross, Warsaw. And his final Mazurka…

Posted on October 30, 2018 by Christine Stevenson

‘Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also’. These words, from St Matthew’s gospel, are the words on the pillar of  the Church of the Holy Cross in Warsaw where Chopin’s heart is interred. A single red rose … Continue reading →

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Down and out in Warsaw and Vienna? Chopin, Scherzo No 1 in B Minor

Posted on August 31, 2018 by Christine Stevenson

Chopin’s four Scherzi are currently in my repertoire, each written at an interesting stage in the composer’s life. The genial fourth scherzo, Op 54,  was composed during a summer spent at Nohant with Aurore Dudevant, better known as the writer … Continue reading →

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On Wagner’s Birthday – Liebestod – from Tristan und Isolde – Wagner/Liszt

Posted on May 22, 2018 by Christine Stevenson

Following  April 23rd’s post, written on the joint birthdays of Prokofiev and Shakespeare, today’s post is written on Richard Wagner’s birthday, and the piece is the Liebestod from his opera Tristan und Isolde, transcribed for the piano by Liszt. A … Continue reading →

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Prokofiev – Ten Pieces from Romeo and Juliet Op 75

Posted on April 23, 2018 by Christine Stevenson

We all know the story. We’ve seen the play, we’ve watched the film, we’ve studied it at school, we know the quotes … Shakespeare’s characters, Romeo and Juliet, the ‘star-cross’d lovers’, have provided musical inspiration for Berlioz’s symphonie dramatique  of … Continue reading →

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Liszt – A Tale of Two Women. Sonetto del Petrarca 104

Posted on March 31, 2018 by Christine Stevenson

 I have written elsewhere of Liszt’s Années de Pèlerinage, a set of three volumes plus a supplement, Venezia e Napoli , the composition of which spanned Liszt’s life from his twenties to his seventies, from youth to what used to be … Continue reading →

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Robert Schumann – A Romance for Clara – Op 28 No 2

Posted on February 12, 2018 by Christine Stevenson

Married the day before her twenty-first birthday against her father’s wishes, Clara Wieck was a concert pianist, composer, editor, supporter of Brahms, promoter of her husband Robert Schumann’s music – oh, and mother of eight children, of whom one died in infancy. … Continue reading →

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The Romantic Piano

Posted on January 2, 2018 by Christine Stevenson

Arriving at a concert venue to give a recital some years ago, I was greeted by the promoter, who whispered to me: ‘I didn’t know what title to give your recital, so I’ve called it The Romantic Piano‘.  A sensible … Continue reading →

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