Benjamin Grosvenor: Schumann and Mussorgsky

Benjamin Grosvenor, described as “one in a million… several million” by The Independent, plays Mussorgsky’s wonderful evocation of works of art hung in a St Petersburg exhibition – bold, brilliant and delicate by turns.

Schumann’s music is romantic in all senses, and the Fantasie expresses his love for Clara Wieck, who he was later to marry. It was published with some lines by the poet Schlegel: “Among all the sounds in earth’s many-coloured dream, one soft note calls to the secret listener”. Schumann suggested to Clara: “You must be the note”.

Benjamin Grosvenor piano