The Girl at the Piano
The setting is Leipzig at the turn of the 19th century: an ambitious and at times tyrannical piano teacher and music shop owner, Friedrich Wieck is set on turning his second-born daughter Clara into a musical prodigy. Clara certainly has the talent and the determination. A virtuoso pianist, she makes her first public appearance at the tender age of eight, shoots to fame, plays Paris at twelve, and travels the length and breadth of the country with her father for extended periods. At sixteen, Clara falls in love with one of her father’s pupils, whose charming rebelliousness delights her: Robert Schumann
Oppressed by her father, underestimated by her husband – the life of the musical genius Clara Schumann is lived in the shadow of two powerful men.