In this vintage clip, Oregon Symphony ’s next guest proves himself a master of rubato, gently tugging the tempo faster and slower to imbue the violin melody with a voice-like expressiveness. The Schumann piece itself vascillates unpredictably between major and minor, conjuring the emotional complexity that defines the “romantic” genre: sweet-yet-painful pangs of longing, reveries of remembrance, and swoons of surrender. Zukerman will play a Schumann piece this weekend, as well as works by Haydn, Tchaikovsky, and Rossini. Resistance is futile; go ahead and get swept away.

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