Pictures & Reflections Markus Schirmer

• Maurice Ravel (1875 - 1937): Miroirs, M. 43:
• 1 Ravel: Miroirs, M. 43: No. 1, Noctuelles 04:50
• 2 Ravel: Miroirs, M. 43: No. 2, Oiseaux tristes 04:11
• 3 Ravel: Miroirs, M. 43: No. 3, Une barque sur l'océan 07:36
• 4 Ravel: Miroirs, M. 43: No. 4, Alborada del grazioso 06:52
• 5 Ravel: Miroirs, M. 43: No. 5, La vallée des cloches 05:51
• Modest Mussorgsky (1839 - 1881): Pictures at an Exhibition:
• 6 Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition: Promenade I 01:28
• 7 Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition: I. Gnomus 02:38
• 8 Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition: Promenade II 00:51
• 9 Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition: II. Il vecchio castello 05:10
• 10 Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition: Promenade III 00:29
• 11 Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition: III. Tuileries (Dispute d'enfants après jeux) 01:06
• 12 Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition: IV. Bydło 03:01
• 13 Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition: Promenade IV 00:47
• 14 Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition: V. Ballet of Unhatched Chicks in Their Shells 01:14
• 15 Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition: VI. Samuel Goldenberg and Schmuÿle 02:24
• 16 Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition: Promenade V 01:24
• 17 Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition: VII. Limoges, le marché (La grande nouvelle) 01:28
• 18 Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition: VIIIa. Catacombæ (Sepulcrum romanum) 01:55
• 19 Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition: VIIIb. Con mortuis in lingua mortua 02:11
• 20 Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition: IX. The Hut on Fowl's Legs (Baba-Yagá) 03:19
• 21 Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition: X. The Great Gate of Kiev 05:54
• Total Runtime 01:04:39

Info for Pictures & Reflections

"This album, which has been much praised for its piano and musical quality, has now been published on HIGHRESAUDIO by Tacet. In two variants the listener can follow Schirmer's succinct, impressive interpretations of the Russian cycle of pictures and reflections played on a remarkable Fazioli instrument. Ravel's Miroirs are presented in "Tacet Real Surround Sound", the pictures are also in "Tacet Moving Real Surround Sound". Compared with the "normal" stereo Version (Tacet 132) the listener is put on the weather side, acoustically speaking, as if he or she was surrounded by the piano - not exactly a natural position [...] But the result is the birth child of good sound engineering. [...]" (Klassik-heute.de)

"Markus Schirmer, Austrian piano player and composer, is an experienced musician, even though his production is not so vast. He has worked with Gergiev, Marriner, Menhuin and Mackerras and he has a quite varied repertoire. Here, he is dealing with “Miroirs” by Ravel, a 1904 composition in 5 movements dedicated to 5 friends that belonged to a group of French impressionists called “Les Apaches”. Among the five compositions the most renown is “Alborada del Gracioso”, orchestrate by the same Ravel and played by different musicians. In the composition we find a dreamlike atmosphere but it also contains images and nervous and precise sounds that are also technically complex. The unabridged version of “Pictures”, the famous composition by Mussorgsky, born as a piano music and later orchestrated by Ravel, follows. Schmirner plays the piano with great ability, with expertise and expressiveness. With this Ravel's work, a comparison among the many available versions is inevitable. Here the touch is lighter if compared with that of Pogorelich, and the atmosphere is rarefied and dreamlike. Bydlo, for example, is executed with a certain rhythm and with a lesser, but more credible, dramatic nature. There is here a very agreeable romantic touch. It’s a very nice record, executed with great ability. As for the quality of the audio with Tacet there’s no possibility to get wrong. The piano Fazioli F-278 has been recorded in Graz in year 2004, in the Helmut-List-Halle. The recording is quite close but a couple of ambiance microphones, placed far from the piano, recreate a realistic atmosphere. The sound of the piano is slightly dimmed in the top range and very extended between the loudspeakers. I find that this solution is correct, since it’s just one instrument playing and if it wasn’t so, it would sound weird and annoying. Strongly recommended." (Angelo Jasparro, audio-activity.com)

Markus Schirmer, piano

Markus Schirmer
Energy, expression and emotion characterize Austrian top-pianist Markus Schirmer’s music making.

No matter where he tours he receives audience acclaim for his charismatic musicianship and his ability to tell vivid stories with the instrument. One of his reviews sums him up precisely: “A pied piper on the piano…music that comes straight from the heart, the brain and the fingertips.”

After intense studies with Rudolf Kehrer, Karl-Heinz Kämmerling or Paul Badura-Skoda the Graz born artist went on to win numerous prizes and honours and to take a number of major concert halls and festivals by storm: the Wiener Musikverein and Konzerthaus, Herkulessaal and Philharmonic (Munich), Suntory Hall (Tokyo), Wigmore Hall (London), Gewandhaus (Leipzig), Philharmonie and Konzerthaus (Berlin), Rudolfinum (Prague), Palais des Beaux Arts (Brussels), Finlandia Hall (Helsinki), Teatro Teresa Carreño Caracas), Palau de la Musica (Valencia), Victoria Hall (Geneva), Festspielhaus Baden-Baden, Teatro Olimpico (Vicenza), Megaron (Athens), Lucerne Festival, Rheingau Musik Festival, Festival international de piano “La Roque d´Antheron“, Ruhr piano festival, “Stars of White Nights Festival” (St.Petersburg), Festival pianistico internazionale „Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli“ (Brescia), Vilnius Festival, Kissinger Sommer, styriarte, Bregenz Festival, Mondseetage, ISCM Music Festival and many more.

He has worked with renowned orchestras: Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra London, Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, Mariinsky Orchestra St.Petersburg, Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Vienna Symphony Orchestra, English Chamber Orchestra, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Sinfonia Varsovia, the Radio Symphony Orchestras of Vienna, Munich and Leipzig, Borusan Philharmonic, Czech Philharmonic, the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra under Valery Gergiev, Sir Neville Marriner, Vladimir Fedoseyev, Lord Yehudi Menuhin, Jukka Pekka Saraste, Sir Charles Mackerras, Michael Gielen, John Axelrod, Fabio Luisi, Yan-Pascal Tortellier, Philippe Entremont, James Judd, Paul Goodwin and Philippe Jordan among others.

He adores Schubert above all but is also enthusiastic about more obscure works such as Britten’s ironic piano concerto, the transcendental solo piano oeuvre of Szymanowski or „Castelli Romani“, an epic piano concerto by Joseph Marx.

Chamber music plays an important role in his work and his partners have included Vadim Repin, Renaud Capuçon, Julian Rachlin, Benjamin Schmid, Veronika & Clemens Hagen, Isabelle van Keulen, Sharon Kam, Nils Mönkemeyer, Christian Poltéra, Linus Roth, Natalia Prishepenko, Danjulo Ishizaka, Boris Giltburg, Patrick Demenga, Christian Altenburger, the Ensemble Wien-Berlin, the Artis-, the Auryn-, the Carmina Quartet, the String Trio Berlin and many others.

Booklet for Pictures & Reflections