Chemistry. You've either got it or you haven't.
So, one would think that musicians who live together and play together would have it.
And one would think right, in many cases.
It's an interesting phenomenon, and we thought we'd explore it in a little more detail with Classicalite's Five Best case studies.
Sounds like couples therapy? Far be it from us to say.
Robert and Clara Schumann
Although the cellist Steven Isserlis has called Clara Schumann one of the more odious people in music history (for the way she treated her husband when he was in an asylum), there is no doubt that she was a muse to him. And although she was herself a star pianist and a composer, she largely gave up a great career for him.
Dietrich Fischer-Diskau and Julia Varady
Two very special artists, a great baritone and an equally great soprano. It's only a surprise that they didn't record together more often.
Mirella Freni and Nicolai Ghiaurov
Now these two did record together plenty. Ghiaurov had few serious rivals as the leading bass of his time, while Freni was a wonderfully sympathetic soprano. Unlike certain other married operatic couples, getting the two as a job-lot for your stage production or recording was even better than one!
Jacqueline du Pré and Daniel Barenboim
The cellist Jacqueline du Pré had a tragically early end, and her marriage with Barenboim has been the source of endless speculation. And dear Lord they did some great work together!
Kurt Weill and Lotte Lenya
Weill couldn't have found a more suitably spiky, vodka-soaked voice for his own music than Lotte Lenya. When she sang "Mack The Knife," you really felt the sinister figure was around the corner. It somehow makes Weill seem all the purer as an artist to know that he not only wrote in a particular style, he married it.
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