Only ghosts remain at the old asylum of Endenich in Germany, now a clean, orderly museum dedicated to the composer Robert Schumann (1810-1856). He ended his days there, isolated, suffering psychosis. Two of the only people who visited him were his wife, Clara Schumann, and the composer Johannes Brahms, a loyal friend to both but lovesick for Clara.
This criss-crossing of emotions hovered over the recital given at a packed Barbican by the world’s starriest tenor, Jonas Kaufmann, his classy superstar companion, the soprano Diana Damrau, and Kaufmann’s revered long-term pianist, Helmut Deutsch, who had devised the programme. These three musicians have performed together many times and brought intimacy, contrast and vitality to these miniature dramas about the perils and joy of love.
