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Clara Schumann virtually stopped composing after her marriage, having not only to earn money from concert appearances for her steadily growing family, but also to give her husband space for his own composing. Yet her sole orchestral work fully merits a firm place in the repertoire. Pianist Beatrice Rana has accepted the challenge of the richly chordal yet splendidly melodious solo part. The slow movement (Romanza) opens with a passionate monologue, followed by an intimate tête-à-tête with the cello. The defiantly hymnic finale likewise places its focus on the piano – Clara’s voice. The programme continues with Symphony No. 3 by Johannes Brahms, the second great love in Clara’s life. “What a work! What poetry!” she exclaimed when she first heard it; “a heartbeat, every movement a jewel!” Before the interval we will hear Hans Abrahamsen’s Vers le silence, a work commissioned by several orchestras, including the BRSO. Here the composer takes up the four elements – fire, earth, wind, water – and adds a fifth element fully in keeping with Greek philosophy: transcendent nature. At the helm of the orchestra in this unusually exciting programme is the well-known Canadian conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin.