In the fourth instalment of her widely acclaimed Schumann edition, Jimin Oh-Havenith turns to his works for piano in variation form. Three of the pieces recorded here occupy a singular place in Schumann’s biography: both his first published composition, the "Abegg Variations", and his final completed work, the so-called "Ghost Variations", belong to this genre. The twelve "Symphonic Etudes" – situated chronologically at the heart of his piano output of the 1830s, long revered by pianists yet equally feared for their formidable technical demands – are likewise variations on a theme.
Whereas the young Schumann, in the "Abegg Variations", conjured a sparkling and virtuosic play on musical letters from the name of a Heidelberg acquaintance, the "Ghost Variations" unfold as a deeply moving dialogue between the gravely ill composer and his great models, Schubert and Mendelssohn Bartholdy. This extraordinary breadth of expression once again affords Jimin Oh-Havenith the opportunity to demonstrate the intensity and originality of her Schumann interpretation.