Nicolas van Poucke plays Schumann's Davidsbündlertänze
Het Concertgebouw, Recital Hall (Amsterdam)
Schumann's alter egos, Eusebius and Florestan, are well known and represent his dreamy, thoughtful side (Eusebius) and his impulsive, fiery side (Florestan). These characters are part of an imaginary group of friends, the Davidsbund, that Schumann had created in his head. In the Davidsbündlertänze these alter egos conduct a lively dialogue, in which the contrasts between them are beautifully expressed. So important were these characters to Schumann that he even attributed the composition to them; Schumann's own name does not appear anywhere on the title page of the first edition of the Davidsbündlertänze.