This new recording, featuring Schumann’s Carnaval, op.9, Kinderszenen, op.15, and Edna Stern’s own first recorded composition, is a portrait of Schumann in all the energy of his youth.

It represents the composer’s first introduction to the characters of his two alter-egos: Florestan, ready to conquer the musical world with his fire and passion, and Eusebius, the daydreamer and poet who also speaks in Kinderszenen’s last piece.

Stern’s own composition is a homage to Schumann, composed after reading his critical article on pianists who do not compose. Schumann thought composition should be a part of all musicians’ lives, an ideal embraced by Edna Stern and one leading the pianist on a new path of her own.