Another German city of music, Leipzig, brings a program reserved for conductor Gabriel Feltz. Robert Schumann’s Symphony No. 4 is mentioned in music literature as a work composed twice. After the end of the First Symphony, Schumann began work on this dark and dramatic work, which premiered in Leipzig. The composer then set it aside for almost 10 years and his revised version, which is mainly performed today, ended up being printed as Symphony No. 4.
Schumann’s younger contemporary Anton Bruckner often experienced public ridicule for his appearance and way of life. Backstage stories testify that he proposed to as many as nine women, none of whom accepted his offer, and that he was inconspicuous, neglected, prone to alcoholism, and obsessed with thoughts of death. His reputation was no better when it came to his compositional work. After obsessive revisions of his first six symphonies in search of acceptance and strong promotion by Mahler and Furtwängler, who put his works on their programs, Bruckner wrote his Seventh Symphony. The premiere was conducted by Arthur Nikisch, who said that from the moment he heard the work he considered it his duty to work for Bruckner’s recognition. Indeed, the performances in Leipzig and later Munich were a turning point in Bruckner’s career. The Seventh Symphony reversed the composer’s previously sad destiny and finally elevated him to international acclaim.
