Markus Schirmer - Mozart: Piano Concertos Nos. 12 and 13 / Church Sonata No. 17 (2012/2020)

This album is more than exceptional. After several award-winning solo and chamber music CDs, Austrian pianist Markus Schirmer recorded a sound carrier with an orchestra for the first time. And with what ...

A Far Cry, traded as an insider's tip for a few years, is already THE young string orchestra of the USA after several hymn successes. The work of the Boston-based ensemble is extremely unconventional and refreshing. All works are rehearsed in changing small groups, each and every time from time to time as leader or concert master. There is no conductor. The Criers, as they call themselves, have already released three albums and are touring Europe for the first time in 2012. The New York Times highly praised the collective and particularly highlighted the strong and diverse personalities within the orchestra. The declared aim of the young musicians is to combine the powerful sound of an orchestra with the intimacy of a string quartet. And that works amazingly.

Markus Schirmer is a well-known and popular figure in Europe, Asia, North and South America. The pianist from Graz is not only valued for his outstanding musicality, but also for his wide range of styles, his sense of sound and his extraordinary charisma on the podium. As a musical world traveler, he works with renowned orchestras such as the Vienna Philharmonic or the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra London under major conductors such as Valery Gergiev, Sir Neville Marriner or Vladimir Fedoseyev. As part of a concert tour through Germany, Schirmer met members of A Far Cry and followed their invitation to Boston, where a joint Mozart concert was performed for the first time in 2009 in the venerable Jordan Hall. The way in which these young thoroughbred musicians work, the dedication and enthusiasm with which they work, inspired and inspired me. That just had to happen, says Markus Schirmer.