Schumann Janáček Rachmaninov – Poetry Passion

Nordby Church, Fanø. Thursday 30th July 2026 at 7.30 pm

SINGLE TICKETS

All-inclusive Festival Ticket KR. 700,-

Schumann Janáček Rachmaninov – Poetry Passion

Robert Schumann (1810–1856): Märchenbilder, Op. 113 for Viola and Piano
I. Nicht schnell
II. Lebhaft
III. Rasch
IV. Langsam, mit melancholischem Ausdruck

Leoš Janáček (1854–1928): In the Mists (V mlhách) for Piano
I. Andante
II. Molto adagio
III. Andantino
IV. Presto

Robert Schumann (1810–1856): Adagio und Allegro, Op. 70 for Viola and Piano
I. Langsam, mit innigem Ausdruck (Adagio)
II. Rasch und feurig (Allegro)

Sergei Rachmaninov (1873–1943): A Selection from Morceaux de fantaisie, Op. 3

Valdemar Wenzel Most, piano · Michel Camille, viola

Schumann Janáček Rachmaninov – Poetry Passion performed by the acclaimed young Danish pianist Valdemar Wenzel Most and violist Michel Camille, explores three composers whose music reveals deeply personal responses to memory, fantasy, and human emotion.

The evening opens with Schumann’s Märchenbilder (Fairy-Tale Pictures), one of the most beloved works in the viola repertoire. Written in 1851, the four movements evoke the atmosphere of the fairy tales that fascinated the Romantic generation. Rather than telling a specific story, Schumann creates a sequence of poetic musical scenes, moving between dreamlike reflection, playful imagination, restless energy, and gentle melancholy. The work reveals Schumann at his most intimate, allowing the warm, human voice of the viola to unfold in a series of deeply expressive musical conversations.

The programme then turns to Leoš Janáček’s In the Mists, composed in 1912 during a period of personal uncertainty and artistic searching. The four piano pieces inhabit a world that seems to drift between reality and memory. Fragments of melody emerge and dissolve, harmonies shift unexpectedly, and familiar shapes appear only to disappear again. The result is one of the most original and evocative piano works of the early twentieth century. Influenced by the speech rhythms and folk traditions of his native Moravia, Janáček developed a musical language unlike that of any other composer of his time, and In the Mists remains one of his most poetic and enigmatic creations.

Returning to Schumann, Adagio und Allegro presents a striking contrast. Written in 1849, one of the most productive years of the composer’s life, the work combines heartfelt lyricism with passionate virtuosity. The opening Adagio unfolds as a song without words, rich in warmth and tenderness, while the Allegro bursts forth with energy and confidence. Together, the two movements reveal the emotional range that lies at the heart of Schumann’s music, balancing introspection with exuberance.

The concert concludes with a selection from Rachmaninov’s Morceaux de fantaisie, composed in 1892 when the composer was only nineteen years old. Already these early works reveal the qualities that would later make Rachmaninov one of the most beloved composers of the Romantic tradition: expansive melodies, rich harmonies, deep melancholy, and extraordinary pianistic brilliance. The famous Prelude in C-sharp minor, which brought the young composer international fame, belongs to this collection. Throughout the pieces, moments of intimate reflection alternate with passages of dazzling virtuosity, bringing the programme to a powerful and emotionally charged conclusion.

At the centre of the concert is pianist Valdemar Wenzel Most, one of Denmark’s most remarkable young pianists, praised for the poetry, maturity, and natural expressiveness of his playing. Together with violist Michel Camille, he guides the audience through a musical landscape in which fantasy, memory, and passion constantly intertwine.

Set within the intimate surroundings of Nordby Church on Fanø, Schumann Janáček Rachmaninov – Poetry Passion offers a rare opportunity to experience some of the most personal and emotionally compelling music of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. From Schumann’s fairy-tale imagination and Janáček’s mysterious dreamworld to the sweeping emotions of Rachmaninov, the programme celebrates the enduring power of music to express what words cannot.