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ThenIattemptedtheentranceexamfortheConservatoireNationalSupérieur
de Musique in Paris. The
Humoreske
was on the syllabus. And something
clicked inme. Until then, I hadperformeda largenumber of highly ‘structured’
works by the composer, such as the Concerto and the sonatas, and all of a
sudden I found myself entering a world of unbridled fantasy. There’s often a
hidden voice in Schumann that you have to tease out between the lines, as
in the
Sphinxes
from
Carnaval
and no.8 of the
Novelletten
. In the
Humoreske
,
there are three successive codas, because he can’t bring himself to stop! And
the style of writing reminds me of the universe of Hoffmann, with his formal
digressions, his tales within the tale.
At any rate, André Boucourechliev, whowas on the jury, toldme at the end of
my performance: ‘You are a true Schumannite [that expression again!]. I had
the impression I was listening toYves Nat.’ At that time, the name of Yves Nat
didn’t mean much to me. But, little by little, I realised that Schumann was
becoming a special companion for me.
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DANA CIOCARLIE