FRÉDÉRIC CHOPIN (1810-1849)

Frédéric Chopin was a virtuoso pianist, who wrote almost

exclusively for the instrument.
The piano went through significant changes during the
19th century as composers grew more ambitious in
range, colours and dynamics. It became a symbol of
Romanticism and was enlarged to suit the needs of
music-makers like Chopin.
Of his repertoire, the Polish Romantic’s own favourites
were the Preludes, along with which his Nocturnes,
Waltzes, Etudes, Mazurkas, Sonatas and Concertos are
still among the most beloved repertoire of pianists today.

FRANZ LISZT (1811-1886)

Another composer indelibly linked with the piano, Franz
Liszt – dubbed “The World’s First Rock Star” – took
virtuoso pianism to new heights. The great Hungarian
composer, among whose repertoire you’ll recognise the
mind-bogglingly fiendish La Campanella, was a showman
who revolutionised the art of performance. At his piano
recitals, Liszt’s fans would tear off their clothes and scream
out his name, a phenomenon the German poet Heinrich
Heine styled ‘Lisztomania’. You’ll often hear Liszt’s
enduring and beautiful Liebestraume No. 3 in A flat major
played at recitals today.

GIUSEPPE VERDI (1813-1901)

The undisputed King of Italian opera, Verdi is known
primarily – along with his monumental Requiem – for his
great stage works La traviata, Rigoletto, Nabucco, Aida,
La forza del destino, Il trovatore.Verdi’s operas, mostly
written around the time of the unification of Italy, became
an essential part of Italy’s national identity, and his
choruses were adopted as anthems of Italian freedom-
fighters.To Italy in the 19th century, Verdi was a musical
monarch, and his death in 1901 brought grief to a national
population who connected deeply with the passion of his
operas.

RICHARD WAGNER (1813-1883)

New instruments, bespoke venues, ridiculously long works
– the list of Richard Wagner’s innovations in 19th-century
music goes on. Wagner, a rather controversial character
mostly because of his association with Nazism – more on
that in our fact gallery here – was a musical visionary
known primarily for his operas. His most enduring works
include The Flying Dutchman, Tannhäuser, Tristan und
Isolde and of course, his monumental Ring Cycle, a work of four operas that takes 15
hours to perform.

FANNY MENDELSSOHN (1805-1847)

Fanny Mendelssohn was a truly great composer, but
getting her work published in the 19th century was an
almost overwhelming ordeal.Her brother Felix
Mendelssohn, whose Violin Concerto in E minor and The
Hebrides regularly make appearances in 21st century
concert programming, believed that as a woman, Fanny
shouldn’t be publishing music.He decided that many of her
works, including her rather wonderful song ‘Italien’, should
be published under his name.

PYOTR ILYICH TCHAIKOVSKY (1840-1893)

Tchaikovsky is one of the most successful composers
Russia has ever produced.He was a prolific composer of
symphonies, concertos, operas, ballets and chamber
music, whose Nutcracker, Swan Lake and Sleepy Beauty
are guaranteed sell-outs for ballet companies around the
world, and whose symphonies and concertos are
mainstays of today’s international concert
stage.Tchaikovsky was also a deeply troubled man, and
his works were shaped by the emotional consequences of
his disastrous marriage, multiple amorous liaisons and
homosexuality, which was illegal in Russia at the time.

JOHANNES BRAHMS (1833-1897)

Is there something in your eye, or have you just been
listening to the German Requiem? Brahms is one of the
Romantic era’s most revered and popular composers, his
symphonies, piano and violin concertos, joyous Academic
Festival Overture and deeply affecting German Requiem,
which he wrote after the death of his mother, among his
most played works.Discovering Brahms’ music also means
diving into his fascinating marriage of classical tradition with
folk and gypsy influences, the inspiration for his 21 dynamic
and varied Hungarian Dances.

GIACOMO PUCCINI (1858-1924)

You say ‘sob-inducing aria’, we say Puccini. This great
Italian composer wrote La bohème, Tosca, Madame
Butterfly, Turandot – all among today’s most performed
operas, all with absolutely heartrending music at their
centre.In fact, his final opera Turandot, which includes the great tenor aria ‘Nessun
dorma’, is one of the few 20th-century operas to have sustained a firm foothold in opera
houses across the world. When working on his last work, Puccini said: “Almighty God
touched me with his little finger and said, ‘Write for the theatre – mind, only for the
theatre’.

HECTOR BERLIOZ (1803-69)

The arch-Romantic composer, Berlioz’s life was all
you’d expect – by turn turbulent and passionate,
ecstatic and melancholic.Essential recording Les
Troyens
Sols incl DiDonato, Spyres, Lemieux; Strasbourg
Philharmonic Orchestra / John Nelson (Gramophone's
2018 Recording of the Year) Read the reviewExplore
further Hector Berlioz: music's great revolutionary (Tim
Ashley is joined by four great advocates of the
composer to celebrate the self-taught, revolutionary
musician whose eccentric genius is only now being fully
recognised)

ROBERT SCHUMANN (1810-56)

Schumann is a key figure in the Romantic movement;
none investigated the Romantic’s obsession with feeling
and passion quite so thoroughly as him. Schumann died
insane, but then some psychologists argue that madness
is a necessary attribute of genius.Essential recording
Symphonies Nos 1-4 Chamber Orchestra of Europe /
Yannick Nézet-Séguin (Editor's Choice, May 2014) Read
the review Explore further Schumann's symphonies –
building a fantasy world (Philip Clark explores why Simon
Rattle, Heinz Holliger, Yannick Nézet-Séguin and Robin
Ticciati are immersing themselves in Schumann's highly
individual sound world)