In a book I read in high school—I think it may have been Hiroyuki Agawa’s Rongo Shirazu no Rongo Yomi or something similar—there is a passage saying that the melody of Kosaku Yamada’s famous song “Red Dragonfly,” which everyone knows, appears repeatedly in Schumann’s “Introduction and Concert Allegro, Op. 134.” The story is that Junnosuke Yoshiyuki told him about it, and as they listened to the record together, they would exclaim, “There it is!”
After reading this story, I very much wanted to hear the piece, but unfortunately it seemed to be rarely performed, and I could not obtain a CD at the time.
Now, after 30 years, I have finally heard the “Introduction and Concert Allegro.” It truly is a case of “There it is!” Please have a listen.
♫ Schumann’s “Red Dragonfly”—or rather, Introduction and Concert Allegro
As one would expect from Naxos, there are several versions. The excerpt above was taken from the following performance.
Schumann: Introduction and Concert Allegro
Introduction and Concert Allegro, Op. 134
- Florian Uhlig – Florian Uhlig (piano)
- German Radio Saarbrücken-Kaiserslautern Philharmonic Orchestra – German Radio Saarbrucken-Kaiserslautern Philharmonic Orchestra
- Christoph Poppen – Christoph Poppen (conductor)
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