Seattle Chamber Orchestra presents "The Ghosts of Robert Schumann"

• Tamara Friedman, piano duet
• Lorenzo Marasso, piano duet

"The Ghosts of Robert Schumann" is centered around Schumann's "Geistervariationen," or "Ghost Variations," which were composed in 1854 and are Schumann's last work for the piano. The variations were composed in the time leading up to his admission to an asylum for the insane and are infrequently played or recorded today.

The "Geistervariationen" are Schumann's last work before he was admitted to the mental hospital in Bonn-Endenich. Wolf-Dieter Seiffert wrote in the preface to the "Geistervariation" that at this time of his life, Schumann believed that he was surrounded by spirits who played him music, both "wonderful" and "hideous". They offered him "most magnificent revelations," but also threatened to send him to Hell. Seiffert goes on to write that on 17 or 18 February 1854, Schumann wrote down a theme he said was dictated to him by voices like those of angels. He did not recognize that it was actually a theme which he had composed previously. Several days later, he wrote a set of variations on this theme. While he was still working on the composition, on 27 February he suddenly threw himself half clothed into the freezing Rhine river, from which he was rescued and returned home. After surviving the suicide attempt, he continued to work on the variations. The next day, he completed the work and sent the manuscript to his wife, Clara, who had left him the night before, on the advice of a doctor.

When Johannes Brahms published the complete works by Schumann, decided, along with Clara's consent, that the "Geistervariationen" were a minor work and so they omitted them from publication. On the other hand they published the "Ghost Theme" only, which later Brahms used for his own Variations on a Theme by Schumann, Op. 23.

In 2021, pianist (and SCO's Music Director) Lorenzo Marasso commissioned English composer Michael Finnissy to write several more variations on the Ghost Theme. This new piece is a kaleidoscope that takes the listener between the original Geistervariationen, Brahms' own Variations op.23 adding Finnissy's own voice to the composition, in particular in the "tropes", which are meant to depict Schumann's confused and hallucinatory state of mind. 

Lorenzo Marasso is joined by Tamara Friedman in this dreamy program.
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Concert will be held at Faith Lutheran Church (Address: 8208 18th Ave NE, Seattle, WA 98115). Concert begins at 2pm. Admission is free with a suggested donation of $25. You can pre-pay your donation at this link <https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/ticketing/7c06d613-201c-48cc-a7d1-6d091c6ba6c0> or directly at the door.You can park anywhere in the street close to the church. Parking is unmetered and unrestricted. 

About Seattle Chamber Orchestra

Founded in 2021, Seattle Chamber Orchestra seeks to bring music lovers tantalizing combinations of the traditional and modern, performed by world-class professional musicians. Brought to life through thoughtful programming that educates as much as it inspires, SCO seeks to reinvigorate live classical music, which has suffered most of all during the pandemic, by providing opportunities musicians and audiences to explore new music and challenge established boundaries.

About Tamara Friedman, piano duet

Pianist Tamara Friedman has been praised for the depth, wit, and humor of her lively performances (Seattle Times) and appreciated as "the magnificent pianist" whose "way with Mozart reached my heart as well as my intellect" (Journal Tribune, Portland, Maine). Tamara attended the Oberlin Conservatory and received her master’s degree from the Mannes College of Music (NYC). She has collaborated with such international artists as Stanley Ritchie, Jaap Schröder, and Vicki Boeckman, and appears with violinist Elizabeth Blumenstock as Duo Amadeus. In the Pacific Northwest she has performed on the Seattle Camerata, Allegro Baroque and Beyond, Belle Arte, Early Music Guild, Gallery Concerts, and Mostly Nordic series and for the Governor’s Chamber Music Festival.

Tamara has been a featured performer in early piano workshops for Pacific Lutheran University (Tacoma, WA), Seattle, Edmonds, and Washington State Music Teachers Associations, and the Western Early Keyboard Association. She maintains a private studio in La Conner, WA, where she teaches modern piano and fortepiano on her collection of 18th- and 19th-century keyboard instruments, which is on display at SEKM!—the Skagit Early Keyboard Museum.

Tamara spends her summers in Bath, Maine, where she also has a group of historical pianos and performs on the Kennebec Early Music Festival.

About Lorenzo Marasso, piano duet

Lorenzo Marasso is an impassioned and sympathetic conductor, concert pianist, chamber musician, educator and radio host. Dubbed the "king of repertoire," Lorenzo's creative programming reveals lesser known masterpieces and rarely performed arrangements. Lorenzo's performances have been broadcast in numerous media outlets, including Seattle's 98.1 Classical King FM and NPR. In 2021 Lorenzo founded the Seattle Chamber Orchestra and is serving now as the ensemble's music director. In the same year he also started hosting a weekly radio program called Dress Rehearsal on 107.3FM KBFG Seattle. Equally inspired by contemporary music, Lorenzo has commissioned and performed world premieres of new works by several international composers who have written and dedicated pieces to him. In July 2020 he completed the Invention Project, a commission of new pieces for piano inspired by J.S. Bach's Inventions and Sinfonias. Further commissions included works composed by Michael Finnissy, Edward Cowie and Bernhard Lang.