A Movie “Song of Love” 5/1/14

May 1, 2014

I have been fascinated by the life of Clara Schumann (Sep. 13 1819 – May 20 1896), a wife of Robert Schumann. Clara was one of most famous pianists in her time, and one of the great piano stars around Europe in the 19th century. She premiered new works by Frederic Chopin, Johannes Brahms, and her husband Robert Schumann. She was a center of music world, collaborating with Brahms, Mendelssohn, Joachim, Liszt, and Chopin. This movie is about her life with Robert and Brahms. Katharine Hepburn is Clara! She is beautiful. And she trained herself to look like she is playing piano in the film. Actually she looks pretty good. It is a famous story that Brahms and Clara shared feelings, but they never crossed the line. Clara was determined to promote Robert’s music after his death. I think Clara knew Brahms was writing music for her, like Robert did. Brahms died 11 months after Clara’s death, as if he has no reason to live without her. The movie itself may not tell the true story, but it is nice to see the film full of great music. But why the movie starts with Liszt’s Piano Concerto? (Of course when Clara was young she had to play flashy music..) That is my question. If you love Romantic Piano Music you, will enjoy this movie.