Classical Sessions: Beatrice Rana & Yannick Nézet-Séguin

Pianist Beatrice Rana’s Classical Session was recorded live at the Baden-Baden Festival in 2022, and features Robert Schumann’s lesser-known music for piano four hands, Bilder aus Osten (“Pictures from the East”), a suite of six movements inspired by the Arab poet Al-Hariri of Basra. “Robert Schumann had the personality of a poet, using music as a language to really write poems in music,” Rana tells Apple Music. “I think that this aspect emerges very strongly in the Bilder aus Osten, where he uses the sound and the musical language to create images and suggestions on the emotional level.” Rana’s choice of partner for the piano recital was conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin with whom she has recorded concertos by both Robert and Clara Schumann. “Yannick is not only a great conductor, but is one of the most sensitive pianists I’ve ever played with,” she says. “So, it was very inspiring to be able to record this piano duet together with him for my Classical Session.” Particular moments in Bilder aus Osten “really hit my heart,” Rana adds. “The third picture, ‘Im Volkston’, is basically a typical dance full of folklore, joy and positivity. And I absolutely adore the fourth, ‘Nicht Schnell’, which I think is basically the signature of Robert Schumann as a composer.” For Rana, the intimate context of the Classical Session suits this work perfectly. “These pieces were not meant to be played in concert halls, but really at ‘house concerts’, as they were called at that time,” she explains. “That’s why it’s very easy to imagine Robert and Clara playing them at home on the same piano.”