Composer of the Week - Robert Schumann - The Dresden Years

Amidst growing concerns for Robert's mental health, the Schumanns made the move in 1845 to Dresden, where he took to the podium as conductor of an amateur choir and, with Clara's assistance, led several performances of his own works. But his strange leadership did not always go down well with the choristers. If musical life seemed dull, all that was about to change with the Dresden uprisings in 1849, after which Robert fled the city, leaving his pregnant wife Clara to brave the battleground and rescue their children to safety. Six Fugues on the Name of BACH (No 2) Olivier Latry (organ) SK 57490 - Tr 12 Nachtlied, Op 108 Monteverdi Choir Orchestre Revolutionnaire et Romantique John Eliot Gardiner (conductor) Archiv 457 660-2, CD 1 - Tr 2 Piano Trio No 2 in F Florestan Trio Hyperion CDA 67063 - Trs 5-8 Cathedral Scene (Scenes from Goethe's Faust) Mephistopholes ...... Jan-Hendrik Rootering (bass) Gretchen ...... Karita Mattila (soprano) Tolz Boys' Choir Swedish Radio Choir Eric Ericson Chamber Choir Berlin Philharmonic Claudio Abbado (conductor) S2K 66308, CD 1 - Tr 4.