Maksim Mrvica (; born 3 May 1975) is a Croatian

pianist A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, ja ...

. He plays

classical crossover Crossover is a term applied to musical works or performers who appeal to different types of audience. This can be seen, for example, (especially in the United States) when a song appears on two or more of the record charts which track differ ...

music.

Biography

Mrvica was born in

Šibenik Šibenik () is a historic city in Croatia, located in central Dalmatia, where the river Krka flows into the Adriatic Sea. Šibenik is a political, educational, transport, industrial and tourist center of Šibenik-Knin County, and is also the ...

, Croatia. He took piano lessons at the age of nine.Mrvica to dazzle on the ivories
''

Taipei Times The ''Taipei Times'' is the only printed daily English-language newspaper in Taiwan, and the third established there. Online competitors include the state-owned ''Focus Taiwan'' and ''Taiwan News''; ''The China Post'' was formerly a competit ...

'', April 16, 2004. Retrieved 2011-04-11. Three years later he gave his first concert performance of

Haydn Franz Joseph Haydn ( , ; 31 March 173231 May 1809) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the string quartet and piano trio. His contributions to musical form have led ...

's Piano Concerto in C major. When Serbian aggression started in 1991, both Mrvica and his professor were determined that this would not disrupt his music studies. In spite of the war and surrounding turbulence, Mrvica entered in, and won, his first major competition in

Zagreb Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slop ...

in 1993. Mrvica went on to study at the Music Academy in Zagreb where he spent five years under Professor

Vladimir Krpan Vladimir Krpan () (born January 11, 1938) is a Croatian pianist and piano pedagogue. He was born in Sveti Ivan Zelina in 1938. He graduated at the Zagreb Academy of Music in the class of Svetislav Stancic and won a master's degree at the San ...

, who himself was a pupil of

Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli (; 5 January 1920 – 12 June 1995) was an Italian classical pianist. He is considered one of the greatest pianists of the twentieth century. According to ''The New York Times'', he was perhaps the most reclusive, e ...

. He then spent a year at the

Franz Liszt Academy of Music The Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music ( hu, Liszt Ferenc Zeneművészeti Egyetem, often abbreviated as ''Zeneakadémia'', "Liszt Academy") is a music university and a concert hall in Budapest, Hungary, founded on November 14, 1875. It is home to the ...

in Budapest and during this year he won first prize at the

Nikolai Rubinstein Nikolai Grigoryevich Rubinstein (russian: Николай Григорьевич Рубинштейн; – ) was a Russian pianist, conductor, and composer. He was the younger brother of Anton Rubinstein and a close friend of Pyotr Ilyich Tc ...

International Piano Competition. In 2000, he moved to Paris to study with

Igor Lazko Igor Lazko (russian: Игорь Лазько, ), (b. St Petersburg, 1949), is a Russian classical pianist who has made a distinguished international career as performer, recording artist and teacher of other pianists. Early career in Russia Igor ...

and gained first prize in the

Pontoise Pontoise () is a commune in the northwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris, in the " new town" of Cergy-Pontoise. Administration Pontoise is the official ''préfecture'' (capital) of the Val-d'Oise ''dépa ...

Piano Competition in 2001.

International appeal

Mrvica was spotted by

Tonči Huljić Tonči Huljić (; born 29 October 1961) is a Croatian musician, songwriter and music producer. He is best known as the founding member, songwriter and producer of one the most famous Croatian pop bands, Magazin. During his career spanning more ...

, who composed several tracks for the crossover string quartet,

Bond Bond or bonds may refer to: Common meanings * Bond (finance), a type of debt security * Bail bond, a commercial third-party guarantor of surety bonds in the United States * Chemical bond, the attraction of atoms, ions or molecules to form chemical ...

, and introduced Mrvica to British

impresario An impresario (from the Italian ''impresa'', "an enterprise or undertaking") is a person who organizes and often finances concerts, plays, or operas, performing a role in stage arts that is similar to that of a film or television producer. Hist ...

Mel Bush.

EMI EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At the time of its break-up in 201 ...

Classics was also interested in Mrvica and soon a new album was underway. This album was '' The Piano Player'', which gave a new spin to compositions by

Handel George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel (; baptised , ; 23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque composer well known for his operas, oratorios, anthems, concerti grossi, and organ concertos. Handel received his training i ...

and Chopin. Since its release in 2003 it has been successful, in Asia, where it has achieved Gold status in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and mainland China, Platinum in Taiwan and Croatia and Double Platinum in Hong Kong. It was also in the number 1 slot in the HMV international pop chart in Hong Kong for twelve consecutive weeks. Under Mel Bush's management, Mrvica's performances generally take place against a backdrop of special lighting, stage and video effects.Maksim Mrvica Returns to Seoul
''

The Korea Times ''The Korea Times'' is the oldest of three English-language newspapers published daily in South Korea. It is a sister paper of the ''Hankook Ilbo'', a major Korean language daily; both are owned by Dongwha Enterprise, a wood-based manufacturer ...

'', September 27, 2009. Retrieved 2011-04-11. Mrvica's piece "Exodus" was used as the floor music of Russian artistic gymnast

Anna Pavlova Anna Pavlovna Pavlova ( , rus, Анна Павловна Павлова ), born Anna Matveyevna Pavlova ( rus, Анна Матвеевна Павлова; – 23 January 1931), was a Russian prima ballerina of the late 19th and the early 20th ...

in the

2008 Beijing Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Nat ...

Adaptations and arrangements

There is a Chinese lyrical version added to the non-lyrical song of Maksim Mrvica's "Claudine". This musical piece was sung and written by singer

Edmond Leung Edmond Leung Hon-man (; born 5 November 1971) is a Hong Kong singer-songwriter, record producer, actor and television host. Background Born in British Hong Kong on 5 November 1971, he was a youth development footballer and coach until 17. At ag ...

from Hong Kong. According to Boxup.com, Edmond was so captivated by Maksim's performance of "Claudine" that he asked Maksim's permission to do a lyrical version in Cantonese. Soon after in 2004, their collaboration produced the bittersweet ballad called "信望愛" (sun3 mong6 ngoi3) ("Trust Hope Love").

Discography

Albums

*1999 – ''

Gestures A gesture is a form of non-verbal communication or non-vocal communication in which visible bodily actions communicate particular messages, either in place of, or in conjunction with, speech. Gestures include movement of the hands, face, or ot ...

'' (Lisinski Studios) *2003 – '' The Piano Player'' (EMI) *2004 – ''

Variations Part I & II ''Variations Part I&II'' is Croatian pianist Maksim Mrvica's third album, including his first (non-international) album, "Gestures". Track listing #Kolibre (Tonči Huljić) - 3:45 # Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-flat minor, Op. 23 (Pyotr Ilyich Tc ...

'' (EMI) *2005 – '' A New World'' (EMI) *2006 – '' Electrik'' (EMI) *2007 – ''

Pure Pure may refer to: Computing * A pure function * A pure virtual function * PureSystems, a family of computer systems introduced by IBM in 2012 * Pure Software, a company founded in 1991 by Reed Hastings to support the Purify tool * Pure-FTPd, F ...

'' (MBO) *2008 – ''Pure II'' (MBO) *2008 – ''

Greatest Maksim ''Greatest Maksim'' is the eighth studio album by Maksim Mrvica. EMI released the album on 23 March 2008. Track listing # "New World Concerto" ( Antonín Dvořák) # "Wonderland" (Tonči Huljić) # "Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence" (Sakamoto / Mat ...

'' (EMI) *2010 – ''Appassionata'' (Universal) *2012 – ''

The Movies ''The Movies'' is a business simulation game created by Lionhead Studios for Microsoft Windows and ported to Mac OS X by Feral Interactive. Players run a Hollywood film studio, creating films that can be exported from the game. ''The Movies'' wa ...

'' (Universal) *2014 – ''Mezzo e Mezzo'' (Universal) *2015 – ''

Croatian Rhapsody ''Croatian Rhapsody'' is a 2015 album by the Croatian pianist, Maksim Mrvica. The title track, "Croatian Rhapsody", was included in his 2003 album, '' The Piano Player'', and his 2008 album, ''Greatest Maksim''. It was composed by the Croatian ...

'' (Universal) *2018 – ''New Silk Road'' (MBO)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mrvica, Maxim 1975 births Living people People from Šibenik Croatian classical pianists 21st-century Croatian people 21st-century classical pianists