Brahms Days / You should see me in my dreams when I dream of you.

In the first concert, a dialogue unfolds between Brahms' musical mentors, Clara and Robert Schumann—through their letters, read by Michael Wendeberg, as well as through their piano songs, sung by Hagar Sharvit. This dialogue is framed by Schumann's Fantasy Pieces Op. 73 and Brahms' own Variations Op. 9 on a theme by Robert Schumann. Performing are Hagar Sharvit, Giuseppe Guarrera, and Michael Wendeberg. The pianist and conductor Michael Wendeberg, born in Ebingen, has in recent years played half of his programs on small, easily portable square pianos from the local Jehle collection during his piano evenings at Lautlingen Castle, thrilling the audience. This collection is one of the most important collections of concert-capable historical keyboard instruments in Germany. To present a central instrument from the collection, a wonderful Bechstein concert grand piano from 1860, ideally suited for Brahms and related repertoire, to the audience, Wendeberg initiated this festival. Over three days, six concerts will take place, exploring different musical paths starting from Brahms. His chamber music partners for this endeavor—the French violinist Sarah Jégou-Sageman, the Irish cellist Killian White, the Israeli mezzo-soprano Hagar Sharvit, and the Italian pianist Giuseppe Guarrera, all of whom are international music award winners—are just as at home on concert stages around the world and promise a colorful, high-caliber concert weekend.