Playing pieces from 'Miroirs' and 'Gaspard de la nuit', empathetic pianist Ragna Schirmer reveals the essence of Ravel's artistic compositions with delicate brilliance. These musical works are animated by an incomparable union of mechanical precision and aching fantasy and these mournfully beautiful sound creations epitomise the artistic soul Maurice Ravel wove into his compositions so assuredly.
Ragna Schirmer has won the highly regarded International Bach Competition in Leipzig twice and the receipt of two of Germany’s top classical music awards, the ECHO Klassik, reflect her remarkable career. Her tutors include Bernard Ringeisen in Paris, himself a student of Marguerite Long, friend and student of Maurice Ravel. She performs in the greatest concert halls of Europe, China and New Zealand, as well as at renowned music festivals such as the Heidelberger Frühling (artist in residence 2010), the Beethovenfest Bonn, the MDR-Musiksommer, the Haydn Festival Eisenstadt, and the Salzburg Festival. She has played with Zubin Mehta, Sir Roger Norrington, Kurt Masur, Sir Neville Marriner, and Herbert Blomstedt, to name only a few, and has performed with orchestras such as the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra, the Orchestre National de France, the Leipzig Gewandhaus and the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields.