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What do you particularly like about Schumann’s sonatas?
José Gallardo: These two sonatas are wonderful works; both parts are excellently balanced. The way the violin part dovetails with the piano and the two instruments supplement and communicate with each other is brilliantly composed.
Linus Roth: The third movement of the d minor Sonata is one of my personal favourites. The simplicity and beauty of this melody – but I also find the inner strife and emotional outbursts so characteristic of late Schumann simply heart-rending.

You have also arranged several songs by Schumann yourself for violin and piano. What gave you the idea?
Linus Roth: First of all we came across the version of “Abendlied” (Evening Song) written by Joseph Joachim. It was quite the normal thing for violinists of this era to make the beautiful melodies of a song their own, a tradition continued by violinists like Jascha Heifetz, Nathan Milstein and so forth.

José Gallardo: We think the sheer beauty of this music is truly without limits. The arrange-ments have been created with great respect towards Schumann and out of love for his music.

Were there any other musicians or events that inspired you to embark on this repertoire?
José Gallardo: Schumann has always enjoyed great popularity in Argentina and so his music was performed a great deal. I remember countless concerts with his works, which I heard as a child in Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires. I find it difficult to pick out a specific musician, because the artists who appeared there were always fantastic and world-famous.
Linus Roth: For me it was especially my teacher Prof. Ana Chumachenco.

While I was studying, I had the opportunity of working intensively on these two sonatas with her, and time and again I think back to those really inspiring lessons.