Schumann on the verge of opera: there is a taste of theatre in the Szenen aus Goethes Faust (Scenes from Goethe's Faust), which he composed between 1844 and 1853, the years in which Wagner was working on Tannhäuser and Lohengrin. A great fresco for soloists, chorus and orchestra, it exalts the suggestions of a literary work that borders on the sacred for the German culture (in which the typically romantic idea of redemption dominates). This is a rare masterpiece – it hasn’t been performed for more than 30 years at La Scala – and the 200th anniversary of Schumann’s birth is a good reason to bring it out of oblivion.