Looking Forward and Back

In this most lyrical, poetic and fantastical of his concertos, Beethoven does not abandon Mozartian concerto form but imbues it with a genuinely romantic voice. In a thrilling dialogue between soloist and orchestra, it is ardent and melancholy, heroic and ethereal, anguished and whimsical. Schumann’s Second Symphony was a personal triumph and marked the start of the final phase of his career. It is a reflection not only of his recent health issue...