Blickkontakte mit Robert Schumann – Begegnungen im heutigen Dresden

Which composer gives as much confidence to his posterity as Robert Schumann?! We own his detailed and unadorned diaries. For the five years in Dresden, from the beginning of 1845 to the early autumn of 1850, the notes reveal a widening of Schumann’s focus regarding the number of artist-friends, the depth and direction of aesthetic discussions.
This volume of a triad resumes the idea of »eye contacts« – now for Dresden. The tour begins with the tomb of Carl Maria von Weber, who according to the will of Schumann’s father should have become Robert’s piano teacher. Nearby are the last home of Richard Wagner and the birthplace of Adrian Ludwig Richter, the apartments of Ferdinand Hiller and Wilhelmine Schröder-Devrient. The Schumanns lived in Waisenhaus-Street, later in Reitbahn-Lane, and even today Semperoper, Royal Palace, court chapel, and Brühlsche Terrasse offer authentic references to the life of the artist couple. At the latter there was the studio of Ernst Rietschel, and the Belvedere – where Robert often attended concerts –, not far from the »Hôtel de Saxe« and the Cosel Palace – rehearsal and concert halls, which were also used by the Schumanns –, the apartments of Friedrich Wieck and Ludwig Richter, and of Rietschel, Bendemann, and Hübner near the Bürgerwiese. The tour continues to Blasewitz, Loschwitz, and finally to Pillnitz.
Among the historically significant events – great moments in the history of music in Dresden and in the biography of the Schumanns – there are the world-premiere of the Piano Concerto in a-minor op. 54 in the »Hôtel de Saxe« with Clara as pianist, and Robert’s debut as conductor of his »Faust-scenes« in the Goethe-Year 1849 in the Palace of the Great Garden. In general, Robert’s time in Dresden was the most productive in terms of composition, and his affection for this city and its surroundings tell all testimonies.