Andris Nelsons celebrates Clara Schumann’s 200^th birthday with the Gewandhausorchester this month, presenting three concerts in tribute to the innovative role of Clara Schumann. The performances will feature works by Clara Schumann, Robert Schumann, Lili Boulanger, Betsy Jolas, and Sofia Gubaidulina.

The daughter of the ambitious piano teacher and instrument dealer Friedrich Wieck, Clara Schumann spent the first 25 years of her life in Leipzig. At the age of nine, she made her concert debut in Leipzig’s Gewandhaus. Clara Schumann was an early pioneer in the 19th century, a pianist prodigy, a pianist celebrated throughout Europe, a composer of rank, wife, and muse of Robert Schumann, and mother of eight children.

The festival begins with a special chamber concert on September 10 at Mendelssohn Hall. Nelsons trades his baton for the trumpet, joining forces with violinist Baiba Skride, cellist Harriet Krijgh, and pianist Lauma Skride. The full program included below. On September 12 & 13 at the Grosser Saal, Nelsons leads the Gewandhausorchester and Lauma Skride. The program includes the world premiere of Betsey Jolas’ Letters from Bachville, a co-commission with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and Clara Schumann’s Piano Concerto in A minor, which she composed at age fourteen and performed at age sixteen at the Gewandhaus. Concluding is Robert Schumann’s First Symphony, known as his “Spring Symphony.”

Program on September 10:

Lili Boulanger – D’un soir triste for violin, cello and piano
Clara Schumann – Am Strande (Version with trumpet and piano)
Clara Schumann – Ihr Bildnis (Version with trumpet and piano)
Sofia Gubaidulina – Song without words for trumpet and piano
Lili Boulanger – D’un matin de printemps for Violin, Violoncello and Piano
Clara Schumann – Three Romances for Violin and Piano op. 22
Robert Schumann – Adagio and Allegro for violoncello and piano op. 70
Clara Schumann – Trio for Violin, Violoncello and Piano in G minor op. 17