Q 01/05

Which European currency's final 100 banknote carried a portrait of Clara Schumann?

A) Swiss franc

B) Deutsche Mark

C) Portuguese escudo

D) Dutch guilder

Answer · why

B) Deutsche Mark

The Deutsche Mark note carried her image, taken from an 1835 lithograph, until the euro arrived. Its reverse showed a grand piano she had played.

Q 02/05

Which Hollywood star played Clara Schumann opposite Paul Henreid in the 1947 MGM film Song of Love?

A) Ingrid Bergman

B) Olivia de Havilland

C) Katharine Hepburn

D) Greer Garson

Answer · why

C) Katharine Hepburn

Katharine Hepburn trained with a pianist for weeks before shooting so that she could be filmed playing convincingly. Robert Walker played the young Br...

Q 03/05

How did Clara Wieck and Robert Schumann manage to marry in 1840 despite her father's refusal to consent?

A) They eloped to Switzerland

B) They waited for his death

C) They got a royal decree

D) They won a court ruling

Answer · why

D) They won a court ruling

They won a court ruling after suing Friedrich Wieck, and the wedding took place the day before her 21st birthday. He had even threatened to shoot Robe...

Q 04/05

Which American jazz and soul star studied piano at Juilliard under Carl Friedberg, a pupil of Clara Schumann?

A) Roberta Flack

B) Nina Simone

C) Aretha Franklin

D) Carole King

Answer · why

B) Nina Simone

Nina Simone spent the summer of 1950 with Friedberg, who had learned from Schumann in Germany and carried her approach to New York.

Q 05/05

Clara Schumann was among the first concert pianists to do what on stage, later the standard for recitals?

A) Perform from memory

B) Tour with her own piano

C) Conduct from the keyboard

D) Improvise every encore

Answer · why

A) Perform from memory

She began to perform from memory in public at thirteen, a feat her reviewers singled out as exceptional, and the practice became the norm for soloists...