Von Mark Pullinger

“Hats off, gentlemen – a genius!” It was Robert Schumann’s very first review, published in the Leipzig periodical Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung on 7th December 1831, that contained this oft-quoted acclamation. The recipient? Frédéric Chopin, praised for his Variations in B flat major on “La ci darem la mano” from Mozart’s Don Giovanni. Both Schumann and Chopin were barely out of their teens and were relatively unknown, but Robert’s lavish plaudit has stuck.

George Balanchine’s Jewels is a relatively recent acquisition at the Wiener Staatsballett. The central gem, Rubies, has played here since 2010, but the complete triptych only made its bow in 2019. This was its 23rd performance.

“Come to Schober's today and I will play you a cycle of terrifying songs.” Franz Schubert wasn’t kidding. By the time he composed Winterreise, his song cycle set to Wilhelm Müller’s poems, Schubert was in a very dark place indeed, in the knowledge that, because of syphilis, his days were numbered. By the time the composer completed it, Müller was dead. Schubert would follow him a year later.