The Down with Romanticism project is the brainchild of two questing musicians — cellist, David Eggert, and fortepianist, Gili Loftus — and is the culmination of over a decade of artistic collaboration. Following meticulous archival research and immersions into the soundworld of the early days of the recording era, they have embarked on an experimental approach to explore forgotten dimensions of playing 19th century music. Their performance showcases flexibility of tempo and rhythm, elasticity of intonation and pitch, generous use of portamento, flexible alignment of the pianist’s right and left hands and heightened individualistic expression like you’ve never heard before, but that were once standard for music of this era — all on two beautiful period instruments.

In his biography of Ludwig van Beethoven, Anton Schindler (1795-1864) describes Clara Schumann as a “star in the constellation of virtuosi” as well as her overwhelming embrace as “a model of Beethoven performance” by contemporary German music critics. Schindler’s remarks do not end there, and as he continues, it is made abundantly clear to the reader that Schindler’s opinions diverge significantly from those of the unnamed ‘German critics’. Schindler proceeds to challenge Schumann and goes as far as to accuse her of “artistic violations'' in regards to the interpretation of Beethoven’s works.

By the mid 19th century, the cultural capital bestowed upon Beethoven’s musical works was agreed upon with unanimity throughout European musical culture. Clara Schumann and Alfredo Piatti, arguably two of the most important European musicians active in the generation following Beethoven, had considerable influence in shaping and promoting an ideology of interpretation tied to this body of work, and played a major role in creating the standards and expectations associated with the public performance of these works. Indeed, the Beethoven cello and piano sonatas formed a core part of Piatti and Schumann’s concert repertoire.
This is the era that saw the final steps in the formation of a musical canon, with the works of Beethoven standing firmly at the forefront. At the same time, this was also an era in which improvisatory practices and spontaneous creativity in one’s musicianship were still prized and to a certain degree, even expected.

"How did our historical counterparts negotiate these two spheres of musicianship – cultivating a legacy of reverence on the one hand, and allowing for elasticity and individualistic expression on the other? What equilibrium did Schumann so upset (according to Schindler at least) with her “artistic violations”? In the third and final part of Down with Romanticism: Recital 1869, we tackle the great master head on and offer our answer to the question: how to perform Beethoven in the age of the romantics?"

For an introductory essay to the project by Prof. Kai Köpp (Bern University of the Arts) CLICK HERE: drive.google.com/file/d/1Oc9ja_KIigEnJig8lCHAWWQIXv1SfETc/view?fbclid=IwAR2WlC_1tcJ6xUzXs4n9gpMVlGA0NHgLhJR2kObhodCMMoEzKSxcWwgRroc