THE LAST ROMANTICS

A 10-part limited series about the tumultuous relationship between
Johannes Brahms; his mentor, composer Robert Schumann; and Schumann’s wife, pianist/composer Clara Schumann. Brahms was unknown when he showed up at their door in 1853, but in a few short months, he would upend all their lives. Robert would descend into madness, Brahms would shoot to the top of the music world, and Brahms and Clara would ignite a secret love that would sustain them, inspire them, and, for nearly fifty years, torture them both.

Genius

Robert Schumann, Clara Schumann, Johannes Brahms — each one a child prodigy, driven to excellence by misguided, often abusive parents who left irreparable scars while creating in them the brightest lights of 19th century European cultural life. Each possessed their own unique, obsessive creative process — as well as destructive inner critic. But for each one, their devastating personal histories conspired to give them talents
the world would never forget.

Feminism

Clara Schumann made her concert debut at age 9. From that moment on, she would quickly become the most celebrated piano virtuoso in all of Europe. When Robert was taken to the sanitarium, Clara returned to performing in order to pay for his care, and the care of her seven children. She would play more concerts than any living musician, often in extreme physical pain, acting as her own booking agent and business manager. She composed hundreds of works, edited volumes of music, and was a tireless promoter of both Robert and Brahms — all in an age when musical talent in a woman was seen only as an asset in the marriage market.

Madness

Robert suffered his first psychotic break as a teenager. Over the years, his mental state only worsened. A lifetime of hospitals, experimental treatments, witch doctors, seances, drugs — but nothing helped. By the time Brahms arrived, Robert was in full decline, tormented by angels whispering sweet tunes, and demons driving him to suicide. He would spend his last two years confined to a sanitarium, forbidden from seeing Clara, and reduced to a babbling, withered shell of his former, brilliant self.

Romance

Actually, two romances. One is the deep, abiding love between Robert & Clara, husband and wife, sweethearts since youth, tireless champions of each other’s artistry, lovers, co-parents, collaborators. The other is the love between Clara & Brahms. It ignited the moment they met, intensified in the months following, exploded in the years after Robert’s death, nearly burned out after a series of bitter arguments, but never died. It sustained and tortured them both for five long decades.