Aimard plays Schumann

When people talk about Pierre-Laurent Aimard, superlatives are never in short supply: “A key figure in the musical life of our time,” “a leading interpreter of contemporary piano music” (Klassik heute), or simply “the best pianist,” according to composer György Ligeti. As a specialist in Messiaen, Aimard made a sensation early on. But his enormously broad repertoire includes Bach and Debussy as well as German Romanticism.

Robert Schumann

At the festival, Aimard will perform Schumann’s most famous work, the Piano Concerto, Op. 54, which the French pianist will pair with the less well-known D-minor Allegro from 1853. Schumann’s A minor Concerto also began as a one-movement fantasy, which he completed only years later—a typical trait of Schumann’s: for every piece of music, the form that perfectly suited it had to be discovered through a lengthy process; he was never interested in virtuoso superficiality. Incidentally, he gave the Concert Piece, Op. 134, to his wife Clara as a birthday gift.

Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 1

The program is rounded out by Pyotr Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 1, which already offers a glimpse of the great master of sound, the creator of symphonic portraits of the soul. Melancholic winter landscapes drift by as if in a dream, before a festive, radiant mood ultimately prevails. Rarely was Tchaikovsky as deeply connected to his homeland as he is here—he even quotes Russian folk songs.

free rein

At 7 p.m., concertgoers can look forward to a special musical introduction.

Program

Robert Schumann
: Concert Allegro with Introduction for Piano and Orchestra in D minor, Op. 134
; Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 54

Peter Tchaikovsky
Symphony No. 1 in G minor, Op. 13, "Winter Dreams"

Interpreters

Pierre-Laurent Aimard, piano
; Stanislav Kochanovsky, conductor
; NDR Radio Philharmonic Orchestra

Schumann-Tchaikovsky Festival 2026