Spirits has been done several times by the couple; most notably for Prince Charles at Windsor Castle. But there is something markedly poignant about this performance. For a small audience of several hundred, as the sun set behind the floor-to-ceiling windows at Jazz at Lincoln Center overlooking Columbus Circle, the duo performed Twin Spirits for a truly New York crowd (proceeds from the event benefited Music Unites, a non-profit dedicated to bringing music education to children in under-funded inner city school systems). It was only the second time taking up the Schumann's mantle in New York, and even Mayor Bloomberg stood awestruck in standing-room only. (Also, this marks a bit of a summer break for the two. "Tomorrow, I get to go back to Europe and spend time with my family," Styler says. "So this is a bit of a send-off for me.") "The story keeps being drawn to us," Styler explains. "It's a glorious story. So romantic." Her husband concurs. "It's so powerful, and afterwards the audience rushed to re-examine the Schumann's–both of them–body of work."

The play, if it can be called as such, feels a bit like a parlor reading by the two, punctuated by the two pianists behind the couple. Jeremy Denk and 22-year-old Natasha Paremski ("I can't believe she's 22," Styler gushes. "She is really incredible.") oscillates between a clever tete-a-tete on the nature of love and marriage and a solemn meditation on the feminine and masculine natures of creation. Almost a call and response, with Sting, Denk and baritone Nathan Gunn acting as Schumann on one part of the stage, with Styler, Paremski and soprano Camille Zamora answering with the "voice" of Wieck. (The violinist Joshua Bell and cellist Nina Kotova added embellishment, but they also sat according to the stage's gender division.) "For me," Styler explains. "Clara is the real heroine here. She kept it together and raised an enormous family while being creative and deeply passionate about her husband." When suggested that portraying Clara Schumann neé Wieck's experience in dealing with an artist whilst pursuing her own career and raising a family may not be such a long shot for Styler, she laughed. "She was a real go-getter. Of course, she had a much larger family than me." Twice the size, in fact: The Schumanns had eight children, while Sting and Styler only have four.

"It's always a moving piece. The story is very affecting. Same result, people are crying, interested. It's actually very emotional for me, too," says Sting. The romance ability to "share in a communion of music" (Clara's own words) is close to Sting's heart, especially with a couple that have lasted, unlike many other's in the rock canon, for such a long time. As to their own romance, Sting demures. "Of course we have email, you know, to correspond when one of us is away. But I wouldn't suggest anyone go hacking...We are nowhere as charming as Robert and Clara."